PRESS DIGEST - China - July 7

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, July 7 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Tuesday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- Chinese coal producer Shanxi Lu'an Environmental Energy Development Co Ltd (601699.SS) plans to acquire assets from its parent by 2015 so the whole group can list, Chairman Ren Runhou said. Ren forecast coal oversupply in China within five years.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- A Disney theme park may be built in Shanghai's Chuansha district after the 2010 Shanghai Expo, according to a report jointly published by a Shanghai government think tank and the planning agency of Shanghai's Pudong district.

-- The China Banking Regulatory Commission will allow 10 more banks to set up finance leasing units in the next two years, said Chen Qiong, a regulatory official. Currently, six lenders have started leasing businesses.

-- Chinese steel maker Laiwu Steel Corp (600102.SS) said it expected to post a loss in the first half of this year due to weak demand, oversupply and low prices.

-- Chinese television maker Hisense Electric (600060.SS) forecast that its first-half profit may jump more than 50 percent due to rising demand for flat-screen televisions.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- Two banks' outlets in Urumqi, the capital of the western Xinjiang region, were damaged during ethnic riots over the weekend that killed 156 people.

-- China's investments in environmental protection may reach 450 billion yuan ($65.84 billion) in the coming five years.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- China's precious metal reserves are shrinking at an alarming rate, while over-exploitation and cut-throat competition in exploration have driven prices considerably lower in the international market.

-- Ford Motor said its sales in China surged 14 percent in the first half of 2009.

-- Torrential rains and floods in southern and central China have left at least 21 people dead, two missing and more than 70,000 homeless.

PEOPLE'S DAILY