UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - Dec 20

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BEIJING, Dec 20 (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.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- China Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS) said shareholder China Overseas Holdings Group had sold a 1 percent holding in the company as of Dec. 19, lowering its stake to 4.53 percent.

-- Beijing Huatie Century Advertising Co, which provides advertising on China's railway systems, has obtained venture capital investment from IDGVC and plans to list on the Nasdaq in the United States in 2009. Huatie competes with Focus Media Holdings Ltd (FMCN.O).

-- Most Chinese institutions expect the central bank to raise interests rates by 54 basis points next year, according to a survey conducted by Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co.

-- Yang Chao, chairman of China Life (601628.SS), denied that the company planned to buy 20 percent of Agricultural Bank of China, saying such talk was purely market speculation.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- China Shenzhen Development Bank (000001.SZ) has received shareholder approval to sell 120 million new shares to Baosteel Group at 35.15 yuan apiece. Chairman Frank Newman said the deal would boost the lender's capital adequacy ratio above the minimum 8 percent required by regulators so that it could expand its networks and new businesses.

-- Chinese chemical maker Shangdong Haihua 000822.SZ said its parent failed to reach an agreement with potential strategic partners including Sinochem Corp and did not plan to proceed with a stake sale within the next three months. Parent company Shangdong Haihua Group in July ended talks with The Carlyle Group [CYL.UL] to set up a joint venture.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- Most Chinese beer makers will raise prices next year as raw material costs keep rising. But Tsingtao Brewery (600600.SS) said it did not have such a plan as the company could offset rising costs by improving management.

PEOPLE'S DAILY -- China will uphold religious freedom and encourage believers to play an active role in the country's social and economic development, President Hu Jintao told a study session of the Party's Politburo.

-- China will raise subsidies for pig farmers next year to ensure stable supply and prices.

-- Authorities across the country have closed 192,400 unlicensed food businesses in a four-month campaign to improve food safety. CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- Shanxi province sacked the mayor of Linfen city after a coal mine blast killed 105 people.

-- China and India will hold their first joint anti-terror military drill, the week-long "Hand-in-Hand, 2007", from Friday in a sign of growing military exchanges.

-- The Ministry of Finance pledged to adopt a prudent fiscal policy to help cool the economy and prevent excessive price rises.

-- Passengers entering China will no longer need to fill in quarantine declaration forms from Jan. 1. (Compiled by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Edmund Klamann)