SHANGHAI, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Chinese newspapers available in Beijing and Shanghai carried the following stories on Wednesday. Reuters has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CHINA SECURITIES JOURNAL

- The Shanghai Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that each investor can hold an option premium of maximum 20 positions while the total holding should be less than 50 positions in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) trading.

- Seventy-one brokerages and 10 futures companies have received approval from the Shanghai Stock Exchange for 50 ETF options trading business, said Nie Yan, general manager at China Securities Depository and Clearing Corp Ltd in Shanghai.

SECURITIES TIMES

- China's deficit in its capital and financial account in the fourth quarter of 2014 was at $91.2 billion, the highest since 1998, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed on Tuesday.

CHINA DAILY

- China will strengthen research into genetically modified crops in order to prevent foreign products from "dominating China", said an official at the Central Rural Work Leading Group.

SHANGHAI DAILY

- Chinese courier firms plan a surcharge for packages sent during the Chinese New Year between Feb. 18 and 24, given the labour shortage during the holiday, the newspaper reported.

- Shanghai plans to increase its outbound direct investment to $15 billion compared with $12.3 billion last year, the city's commission of commerce said on Tuesday.

For Hong Kong and South China newspapers see...

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(Reporting By Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)