UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - March 12

(Adds items)

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, March 12 (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

-- China Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS), the country's first private-sector bank, said it was considering several fund-raising options including a share placement but had not yet finalised a specific proposal, after media reports that it planned to issue at least 1 billion new shares to existing shareholders.

-- China Securities Regulatory Commission Vice-Chairman Fan Fuchun said the watchdog had proposed establishing a special court to try criminal financial cases.

-- Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China (601318.SS) (2318.HK), the country's second-largest life insurer, said its life insurance premium income was 33.5 billion yuan ($4.90 billion) in January and February.

-- China Southern Airlines (600029.SS)(1055.HK) said it would make provisions for impairment losses on old aircraft it plans to replace. It did not give the amount of the impairment but said it would not seriously affect cash flow.

-- The Shanghai government is speeding up plans to consolidate several major state-owned firms and transfer their assets into publicly listed vehicles, market sources and analysts said.

-- China Telecom Group signed an agreement with the government of southern China's Hunan province on Wednesday to invest nearly 20 billion yuan to build up communication networks in the province over the next five years.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- China central bank vice governor Su Ning said economic indicators in the first two months this year, excluding seasonal variations, were showing stability and even slight recovery.

-- Shenhuo Coal Industry and Electricity Power 000933.SZ said it planned to spend 100 million yuan each on a power generation project and a coal mine project.

-- China offshore oil specialist CNOOC will start operations at its Huizhou petrochemical project on March 20. The project, with an investment of nearly 20 billion yuan, will begin formal production in May.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- The China Banking Regulatory Commission said loan growth to the agriculture sector will rise in 2009 to compensate for the impact of the financial crisis as well as widespread drought in northern China that threaten grain production and the rural economy.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- China's biggest and fastest fishery patrol ship, converted from a retired Chinese Navy warship, has sailed off to the South China Sea to protect fishing vessels and demonstrate Beijing's sovereignty over its islands.

-- Lenovo, China's leading personal computer maker, will explore the low-end market in rural areas as its major strategy to weather the global financial crisis.

PEOPLE'S DAILY

-- China's planted forest area reached 53.3 million hectares, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the world's total.

-- The number of visitors to the Potala Palace is capped below 2,300 per day, according to the latest rules by the Tibet government. ($1=6.839 Yuan) (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Ken Wills and Edmund Klamann)