PRESS DIGEST - China - June 18

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, June 18 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Thursday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- The global financial crisis is gradually turning into a crisis of the real economy, said Justin Lin Yifu, chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank. China will probably be the first to touch bottom among all the world's major economies, he added.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- New loans by China's big four state lenders totalled 225.47 billion yuan ($32.97 billion) in May, or 33.93 percent of overall lending by China's financial institutions, below 40 percent for a second month in a row, central bank officials said.

-- Exports via Shanghai in May fell 28.6 percent year-on-year to $23.92 billion, with imports down 22.3 percent to $14.26 billion, customs data showed.

-- The state parent of China Telecom Corp (0728.HK) has agreed to invest at least 20 billion yuan in the northwestern province of Shaanxi to improve its telecommunications infrastructure.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- Exports from the southern province of Guangdong fell 18.5 percent to $125.39 billion in the first five months, with imports down 26.3 percent to $83.13 billion, customs data showed.

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

-- The parent of Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd (0175.HK), Ford Motor (F.N) and its Volvo car unit all issued statements on Wednesday denying media reports that the Chinese car maker had an initial agreement to buy the Swedish car maker from Ford. ($1=6.837 Yuan) (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Klamann)