PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Sept 4

HONG KONG, Sept 4 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Beijing is planning a new value-added tax regime of allowing 8 million firms to use fixed asset investments to offset value-added tax payable to the government, which may allow firms in hard-hit industries to save up to 150 billion yuan annually, according to sources.

-- The Hong Kong securities watchdog, the Securities and Futures Commission, has rejected Shaw Brothers' 0080.HK plan to sell a piece of land to its deputy chairman, Mona Fong, amid a possible takeover by Country Garden's (2007.HK) chairman. Shaw Brothers had said earlier this week it had cancelled the land sale to Fong for HK$25.2 million.

-- Asia's largest luxury watches retailer, Peace Mark (Holdings) (0304.HK), is in talks with its bank creditors to temporarily freeze repayment of HK$1.2 billion in debt while it seeks a white knight to resolve its cash-flow problem. The company said a sharp fall in its stock price had prompted creditors to withhold bank facilities. -- About 15 percent of Hong Kong children are overweight due to poor diet and unhealthylifestyle, including increasingly eating at restaurants, skipping breakfast and sleeping late, which all contribute to weight gain, according to a study by Chinese University.

-- Hong Kong government is drafting plan to buy out and ban trawlers to save fish, making the flagging fishing industry more economically and ecologically sustainable despite expected strong opposition from fishermen. Trawlers have long been considered detrimental to the marine environment especially because of their damage to the seabed and killing of immature fish. HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

-- Coca-Cola's bid to buy Huiyuan Juice may be subject to approval by mainland authorities in accordance with a newly imposed anti-monopoly law in China amid concerns about the deal's impact on competition, according to an expert in China.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

-- Polls conducted by mainland websites showed many people opposed Coca-Cola's planned takeover of Huiyuan Juice. A poll conducted by Sina.com showed 84 percent of some 30,000 respondents opposed the deal.

MING PAO

-- The Hong Kong hotel industry expects a 3 to 4 percent increase in the number of hotel guests in the 7 days from September 29, when Chinese celebrate holidays.

APPLE DAILY

-- Hong Kong Monetary Authority's chief, Joseph Yam, said in an interview with a local broadcaster that he expected the U.S. credit crisis to last for a while and might cause the collapse of some smaller or regional banks.

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