China Merchants front-runner for Wing Lung-reports

HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters) - China Merchants Bank (600036.SS) has emerged as the "preferred" bidder for a controling stake in Hong Kong lender Wing Lung 0096.HK, according to media reports on Friday.

Industrial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HK) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX) had been vying for a stake in the bank, valued at around $4.8 billion by analysts.

China Merchants Bank dropped from the auction and re-emerged late in the process.

Final bids for Wing Lung were expected to be submitted this week.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty, Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)