UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - May 23

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Friday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- China Minsheng Banking Corp (600016.SS) said an auction of 134.4 million shares it holds in Haitong Securities (600837.SS), China's third-largest brokerage, was called off due to a lack of bidders.

-- The Shenzhen Stock Exchange is studying the possibility of raising the threshold for trading on its planned second board for start-up firms, and limiting participation by small-scale investors, an exchange official said.

-- China should establish special tax policies toward private equity funds, an official with the State Administration of Taxation said, while a Finance Ministry official said tax policies toward venture capital and private equity should be improved.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- Prices of iron ore in China rose 5 percent in mid-May from the beginning of the month, while cement prices are facing upward pressure due to rising costs, the Commerce Ministry said.

-- Angang Steel Group plans to build a project with more than 10 million tonnes of capacity in southern Fujian province with local steel mill Fujian Sangang, the group's general manager Zhang Xiaogang said.

-- China had 583 million mobile phone users and 360 million fixed-line telephone users as of the end of April.

CHINA BUSINESS NEWS

-- China National Chemical Corp incurred 1.2 billion yuan ($173 million) in losses from last week's earthquake, with 43 employees killed, 31 missing and 351 injured.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- The banking regulator offered to speed up the approval process to allow joint-stock banks to provide financial services in areas of quake-stricken Sichuan province. Tianjin-based Bohai Bank, Shanghai Bank and Chongqing Bank all won approval.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- Sixty-five cultural relics under state protection and 119 under provincial protection in Sichuan province were severely damaged in last Monday's earthquake, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said.