RPT-UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - July 14

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, July 14 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Monday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- Appreciation of the yuan CNY=CFXS against the dollar may slow this year in line with an easing of export growth, analysts say. However, depreciation is unlikely at least through mid-2009.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- The risks of the economy overheating are easing, so economic policy may be loosened slightly at an appropriate time.

-- Brokerages have received their latest business ratings from the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The number of brokerages rated A or AA rose by 15 to 31, although no brokerage received a top AAA rating.

-- Zhejiang province will be the first to start legalising its unlicensed money lending houses, sources say. The first houses will begin operating legally in early September, with every county allowed to legalise one on a trial basis.

-- Inner Mongolia Yuan Xing Energy Co (000683.SZ) estimated net profit in the first half of this year rose between 150 and 200 percent, because of debt restructuring and government subsidies.

-- With 80 percent of electric power firms losing money, profits at coal miners are doubling, industry sources say. The coal-fired power crisis is becoming a long-term threat to China's energy security.

-- Air China (601111.SS) (0753.HK), the majority owner of Air Macau, and other investors will inject capital into Air Macau, which will suffer from the introduction of direct flights between mainland China and Taiwan, sources say.

-- With the stock market down to reasonable levels and given the possibility of a slight easing of economic policy, analysts believe planned share issues by large companies no longer constitute a major threat to the market.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- Huaan Securities said its first-half net profit shrank 73 percent as the stock market slumped. This follows Hongyuan Securities' (000562.SZ) earlier estimate that its own net profit dropped 66 percent in the first half.

-- Eleven senior executives of China Railway Group (601390.SS), including its chairman and CEO, bought a total of more than 1 million shares in the company from the market on July 9 and 10.

FINANCIAL NEWS