HONG KONG, Nov 9 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

- Banks are slashing valuations for residential properties, in yet another sign of an approaching bear market in the city's real estate market. Investment bank Jefferies said banks have been trimming valuations by 2 to 15 percent since the end of August. Mortgage broker mReferral's analyst Sharmaine Lau said lenders are increasingly setting property values below transaction prices. (http://bit.ly/1M0Rh8p)

- Former China Aircraft Leasing Group chief executive Mike Poon, who went off the radar in June, was sighted in town last week by several people. Sources said Poon had been under detention on the mainland for a graft probe into China Southern Airlines. Poon has probably been freed after giving the authorities the information they wanted, a source with knowledge of the investigation said. (http://bit.ly/1Nld9cv)

- Global hotel chain Marriott International has unveiled an aggressive expansion plan in China that includes entering more than 20 second- and third-tier cities in four years. Marriott already has hotels in 26 Chinese cities while Craig Smith, the managing director of Marriott Asia-Pacific, said he wants to make that 50-plus cities in three to four years. (http://bit.ly/1MtAnkc)

THE STANDARD

- Frequent shadow visitors who join group tours to Hong Kong will be red-flagged and reported to mainland authorities, the Travel Industry Council Chairman Michael Wu said. If it is discovered that people have joined group tours to Hong Kong three times in two months, their names will be handed to the China National Tourism Administration, he added. (http://bit.ly/1PwEflp)

- Swire Properties has been looking at potential opportunities in first-tier cities in China although its prime focus remains its new projects, including a mixed-used development in Chengdu, says Chief Executive Guy Bradley. The firm is interested only in projects in prime locations of Tier-I cities that offer reasonable returns, Bradley said. (http://bit.ly/1QnNG7x)

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

- Retail outlets operator Theme International Holdings Ltd said it would scale down its garment business in Taiwan amid competitive environment in garment retail business and rising operating costs, as well as the poor financial performance of its retailing segment.

For Chinese newspapers, see...............

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)