UPDATE 1-PRESS DIGEST - China - May 16

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BEIJING/SHANGHAI, May 16 (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 will launch a Nasdaq-style market for start-up firms when the time is ripe and is preparing to kick off stock index futures trade, Yang Gang, deputy head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told a conference.

-- Operations at nine airports in Sichuan Province basically normal, the National Development and Reform Commission said.

-- China will issue rules governing tax subsidies to the steel scrap recycling industry, an official with the nation's tax bureau said.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- China Banking Regulatory Commission Chairman Liu Mingkang said it was essential to prevent a rebound in banks' non-performing loans and especially to guard against risk in property development loans.

-- Xinxin Industry (600373.SS) said it will issue shares worth 1.08 billion yuan ($154.4 million) to Zobon Group, a Shanghai-based real estate developer, via a private placement under a plan to list Zobon's shares via a reverse takeover.

SECURITIES TIMES

-- Zoje Sewing 002021.SZ was rebuked by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, which said the company's parent firm had retained funds that should have been distributed to the listed unit.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- Chinese insurance firms have paid 1.7 million yuan for earthquake-related damages as of May 14.

-- Chinese brokerages have to first seek opinions on their IPO plans from the industry watchdog, which will later become part of their documents presented for IPO approval, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- The first U.S.-bound Chinese leisure tour group is set to depart on June 17, after the two governments agreed last December to open outbound tour-group travel from China to the United States.