PRESS DIGEST - China - April 16
BEIJING/SHANGHAI, April 16 (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 has disbursed 19.8 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) to rural areas under its new health care reform plan to bring medical coverage to uninsured Chinese.
-- China still lacks strong stimulus measures for final consumption, as recent bank lending has mainly flowed into the manufacturing sector, said Liu Shijin, deputy director of the State Council's Development Research Center, a government think-tank.
-- China's three major carriers, Air China (601111.SS) (0753.HK), China Eastern (600115.SS) (0670.HK) and China Southern (600029.SS) (1055.HK), saw combined losses of more than 25 billion yuan in 2008, based on their published and expected results.
-- China's Tsinghua Tongfang Co Ltd (600100.SS) will spend 800 million yuan to build an LCD module facility, a company source said.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
-- A rebound in China's property prices is expected to be short-lived due to lack of demand and support from the government, experts told an industry conference in Shanghai.
-- Electricity consumption in some Chinese regions is recovering, indicating economies there have started to bottom out, according to a report from the National Development and Reform Commission.
SECURITIES TIMES
-- Yunnan Copper Co Ltd (000878.SZ), China's third-largest copper producer, reported a loss of 2.8 billion yuan in 2008 due to a slump in base metal prices. (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
