PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Sept 3

HONG KONG, Sept 3 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

-- Property sales in Hong Kong rose to a 31-month high last month, recording 16,946 sale and purchase agreements for residential, commercial and industrial units, up from 14,885 in July, Land Registry data showed. However, the market is expected to slow as government cooling measures make buyers more cautious.

-- CITIC 1616 Holdings (1883.HK) said it would tap into the virtual private network VPN market on the mainland with a HK$258.4 million ($33.3 million) acquisition of VPC services provider China Enterprise Communications (CEC) from parent Citic Group and Beijing-based CE-SCM Network Technology.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

-- Bank of China (BOC) (3988.HK)(601988.SS) will start issuing its yuan-denominated bonds to retail and institutional investors on September 8. The 2-year bond is set to carry a yield of 2.65 percent and 3-year bonds 2.9 percent.

HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

-- Chinese retailer GOME Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd (0493.HK) said it planned to add 160 new stores in the mainland in September.

SING TAO DAILY

-- Property conglomerate Wharf Holdings (0004.HK) said it had acquired a piece of land in Shanghai for 992 million yuan ($145.7 million) to develop a high-end residential project.

APPLE DAILY

-- Clean-energy company China Suntien plans to raise HK$3.9 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong in the fourth quarter this year, sources said. The company owned by the government of Hebei Province is engaged in the wind farm and natural gas businesses.

-- Chinese thin film solar company Trony Solar Holdings Co Ltd has passed its listing hearing and is expected to kick off its initial public offering within two months to raise up to HK$2 billion.

WEN WEI PO

-- Chinese real estate developer Country Garden Holdings (2007.HK) said its contracted sales totalled 18.4 billion yuan in the first eight months, up 37 percent from a year earlier.

TA KUNG PAO

-- Chinese developer Shimao Property Holdings (0813.HK) said contracted sales in August recorded 2.7 billion yuan, up 35 percent from July. The company's contracted sales in the first eight months amounted to 16.1 billion yuan.

For Chinese newspapers, see...............[PRESS/CN]

For Taiwan newspapers, see.[PRESS/TW]

(Reporting by Twinnie Siu; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)