PRESS DIGEST - China - Aug 4

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Aug 4 (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.

FINANCIAL NEWS

-- It is irrational and overly pessimistic to expect a deeper stock market downturn after the Olympic Games as Beijing will try to safeguard stock market stability as well as stable economic growth, a reporter said in a commentary.

--Twenty-one of China's listed companies issued 74.5 billion yuan ($10.89 billion) worth of bonds in the first half of the year, 6.35 times the amount a year earlier. This accounted for 53 percent of total funds raised in the first six months, exceeding the amount raised by issuing shares for the first time.

--The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) (1398.HK) provided 226.8 billion yuan in loans to small and medium-sized companies in the first half of this year, accounting for 7.2 percent of its total loans by June, double the ratio at the end of 2005.

--Wang Haiping, vice-director of Beijing's Development and Reform Commission, said the city's GDP this year may surpass 1 trillion yuan and GDP per capita may surpass $8,000 by the end of 2008.

CHINA DAILY (www.chinadaily.com.cn)

-- Wang Jianjie, deputy director of the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, said there may be rain and thunderstorms during the opening ceremony of the Games this Friday, but it would not dampen Olympic spirits.

-- A statement on the official BOCOG website said people wanting to protest during the Beijing Games are required to personally submit an application and their identification information to relevant police authorities five days ahead of their actions.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

-- Wuliangye Yibin (000858.SZ), a major maker of traditional Chinese liquor, said it would use its own resources to buy a range of production assets from its parent for an unspecified sum. People familiar with the situation said the announcement marked the first step in Wuliangye's previously announced plan to buy more than 6 billion yuan ($877 million) of assets from its parent by end-2010.

-- Newsprint makers say they are planning a price hike because of rising production costs.

-- China's stock market is likely to consolidate this week as the economic environment gradually becomes clearer and investors realise that downward pressure from lock-up expiries this month may be less than expected, analysts said.

SHANGHAI SECURITIES NEWS

-- Zhuang Xinyi, deputy chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said the work of creating a legal framework to protect investors was gradually being completed. A law is now being drafted to govern tie-ups between domestic fund management companies and foreign institutions.

-- Some textile producers say last week's hike in tax rebates for textile exports will do little to ease the pressure on their industry.

-- Executives of small and medium-sized enterprises said at a forum in Hangzhou that the corporate loan market should be reformed to ensure their companies had sufficient access to funding, and that monetary policy should be more discriminating so that smaller companies were not hit hardest by tightening. ($1=6.842 Yuan) (Compiled by Beijing and Shanghai Newsrooms; Editing by Edmund Klamann)