UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - June 25
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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, June 25 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Wednesday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
FINANCIAL NEWS
-- China will provide 40 billion yuan ($5.82 billion) from its newly-proposed 70 billion-yuan disaster reconstruction fund to farmers whose houses collapsed during the earthquake in Sichuan. Donations to the disaster-hit region from home and abroad have reached 52.3 billion yuan.
-- The National Development and Reform Commission will carry out an investigation from late June to the end of September to see whether fertiliser producers are breaching its rules and asking for higher prices illegally.
-- CCB Principal Asset Management Co raised 6 billion yuan for its new fund by June 20, despite the market downturn.
CHINA DAILY
-- China's top lawmakers discussed key issues in a draft law that will govern the management of the country's 30 trillion yuan worth of state assets.
-- China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil producer, signed a 25-year purchase agreement for liquefied natural gas with Qatar on Monday.
CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL
-- The average historic price/earnings ratio for A shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen has dropped to 23.51 times, not far from the 19.96 times hit during the stock market slump in mid-2005, suggesting value has reappeared in Chinese stocks, analysts say.
SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS
-- Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, has been touring the country and making speeches in places including Dalian, Suzhou and Wuhan to express authorities' determination to tighten enforcement of restrictions on inflows of speculative money into the country. Bankers say they have been asked to provide information to authorities on renminbi accounts held by non-residents, especially those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
-- Bank of Nanjing (601009.SS) said it had received regulatory approval to open a Shanghai branch, which would start business on Thursday.
-- Securities regulators in Shenzhen are cracking down on the business departments of some brokerages which have turned a blind eye to improper trading by some of their big accounts to win market share.
-- Analysts say that given upward pressure on coal prices, electricity prices are likely to be raised again after the Beijing Olympics in August, following last week's hike.
-- Minsheng Bank (600016.SS) said its board had formally approved the creation of a private banking operation.
-- Hubei Aviation 002013.SZ said its controlling shareholder would extend by two years a lock-up period for shares which are due to become tradable on Nov. 2. For shares that it holds which have already become tradable, it will not conduct any sales at a price of less than 8.05 yuan, adjusted for bonus issues, before Nov. 2, 2010.
-- Jianyin Investment plans to sell off most of its stake in Southwest Securities, which may accelerate the brokerage's plan to obtain a backdoor listing through Chongqing Changjiang River Water Transport Co (600369.SS).
