China's business press carried the following stories on Tuesday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

China launches rare earth pilot program in Baotou—China Securities Journal

China's Ministry of Land and Resources plans to launch a pilot program to create strategic reserves of rare earths, despite divergent views on how to build reserves.

Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-earth (Group) Hi-tech Co has been chosen as one of the sites for the program. The company started to stockpile rare earths last April, a researcher said on condition of anonymity. The company has an annual production capacity of 250,000 tons.

Dangdang selects banks for US IPO—yicai.com

Online retailer dangdang.com has selected Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse as underwriters for its IPO on the US stock market later this year.

Li Guoqing, president and founder of dangdang, has in the past estimated the value of dangdang at more than US$1billion. But neither Li nor other executives could be reached for comment.

SMIC sheds solar power business—China Business News

SMIC, China's largest chipmaker, has sold its solar energy business to Jiangsu-based Solarfun Power, a new energy company listed on Nasdaq.

SMIC's foray into solar energy started several years ago as part of a search for new profitable ventures. But it is being forced to scrap the business in order to boost efficiency and pull itself out of financial difficulties.

Alongside Solarfun, Citibank, Hony capital and Legend Capital are also taking stakes in the business.

SMIC reported a US$180 million loss in the first quarter of this year. The company hopes to pull out of the red in the second quarter.