PRESS DIGEST - China - March 18

SHANGHAI, March 18 (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

- A plan for three trial free-trade zones in the Chinese cities of Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian has been passed to the State Council for review, a spokesman for the country's commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

CHINA DAILY

- China is planning third-party audits of foreign assets owned by the country's powerful state-owned enterprises, according to a notice from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission on Tuesday.

- Chinese eastern metropolis Shanghai will spend 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) on environmental protection over the next three years, according to the city's government.

- A Chinese local government has approved Shandong Hi-Speed Group Co Ltd's purchase of a 49.9 percent stake in France's fourth-largest airport, Toulouse-Blagnac.

SHANGHAI DAILY

- Chinese authorities have arrested a man who allegedly cheated investors out of 30 million yuan (US$4.8 million) through a spurious foreign exchange trading scheme, Shanghai district prosecutors said on Tuesday.

For Hong Kong and South China newspapers see.....

($1 = 6.2490 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Chen Yixin and Adam Jourdan; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)