新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2013/09/10

The Beijing Hour
 
Morning Edition
 
 
RH with you on this Tuesday, September 10th, 2013.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on our program this morning...
China and Uzbekistan vow to deepen it’s strategic partnership
Chinese and US defense officials meet here in Beijing
UN calls on Syria to give up chemical weapons stockpiles
Business
China's consumer price index up 2.6 percent year on year in August
Sports
China’s Lin Dan into the badminton semifinals at the national games
Entertainments
Filmmaker Zhang Yimou's first Peking Opera is set to hit the stage in Beijing
First, let's check on what's happening on the weather front...
 
 
Weather
 
 
Beijing will be overcast today, with a high of 28 degree Celsius in the daytime, and it will be cloudy tonight with a low of 18.
In Shanghai, it will be cloudy today, 34 the high, and it will be cloudy tonight, the low of 25 degrees Celsius.
Lhasa will be cloudy in the daytime the temperature's at 20, and tonight will have showers with a low of 8 degree Celsius.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia
Islamabad, sunny, 30.
Kabul, sunny, with a high of 31.
And in North America
New York, overcast, with a high of 22 degrees.
Washington, overcast, highs of 26
Houston, thundershowers, 32.
Honolulu, overcast, 31.
Toronto, moderate rain, 21
Finally, on to South America,
Buenos Aires, overcast, 27.
And Rio de Janeiro will be sunny with highs of 28 degrees Celsius.
 
 
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Top News
 
 
China, Uzbekistan vow to deepen strategic partnership
 
China and Uzbekistan has vowed to further boost bilateral cooperation and deepen their strategic partnership.
The two countries made the pledge in a joint declaration issued following talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov.
CRI's Marc Cavigli has more.
Reporter:
During their discussion, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that China-Uzbekistan relations boast a unique advantage of high-level mutual trust.
Xi Jinping tabled a five-point proposal on furthering pragmatic bilateral cooperation.
"China and Uzbekistan should strive to raise the volume of two-way trade to five billion US dollars by 2017; further deepened bilateral financial cooperation; expand local-currency settlement, promote infrastructure connectivity and to complete as soon as possible the rail and road networks linking China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan."
For his part, Karimov said China has provided sincere help in Uzbekistan's development.
"It has been proven by facts that China is a great neighbor and a reliable partner. I want to address that during the development of a friendly partnership between the two sides; China has always taken care to the core interests of people in the two countries and never attached any political conditions during bilateral cooperation. I appreciate that a lot."
Both the leaders also hailed energy cooperation as a priority, pledging to build a safe and reliable natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.
After their talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents in such fields as economy and trade, energy, investment and financing.
They also agreed to set up a Confucius Institute in the Uzbek city of Samarkand.
China and Uzbekistan established a strategic partnership in 2012.
Bilateral trade has seen an over 50 percent increase since the beginning of this year, reaching 2.1 billion US dollars.
After Uzbekistan, the Chinese president is to pay a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he will also attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
For CRI, this is Marc Cavigli.
 
 
China, US defense officials meet in Beijing
 
China and the United States have vowed to increase strategic mutual trust and strengthen relations in the Asia-Pacific region.
The pledge comes after senior defense officials from both sides holding talks here in Beijing.
U.S Under-Secretary of Defense James Miller is leading the US delegation.
"A sustained and substantive military relationship is an essential component of the joint efforts to build the relationship that avoids the historical trap of rivalry and conflict between a rising power and an established power."
Officials from the Chinese side include Deputy Chief-of-Staff Wang Guanzhong.
The two sides have exchanged views on several geopolitical issues, as well as cyber security.
This is the 14th meeting between defense officials from China and the US.
Zhao Xiaozhuo is the deputy director the research center for China-US defense relations with the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences.
"The communication between China and the US militaries has further enhanced in recent months. President Xi Jinping and President Obama agreed to push the military relationship between the two countries to a higher level. The main problem in the China-US military relationship is the two sides are lack of strategic mutual trust, which causes the relationship always in a situation of ups and downs. I think this relationship is now on a relative stable track. "
Both Chinese defense minister Chang Wanquan and US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey have held reciprocal visits to one-another's countries this year.
Also the US side has also invited the Chinese navy to participate next year's Rim Pacific naval exercise.
 
 
UN calls on Syria to give up chemical weapons stockpiles and their destruction
 
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he may ask the Security Council to demand Syria give up its chemical arms stocks and have them destroyed.
Ban says he has been considering the plan for days.
"I'm considering urging the Security Council to demand the immediate transfer of Syria's chemical weapons and chemical precursor stocks to places inside Syria where they can be safely stored and destroyed."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has backed the plan, making the suggestion to his Syrian counterpart, to avoid US military strikes.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem says they welcome Russia's plan:
"Regarding the chemical weapons initiative, I state that the Syrian Arab Republic welcomes the Russian initiative, motivated by the Syrian leadership's concern for the lives of our citizens and the security of our country, and also motivated by our confidence in the wisdom of the Russian leadership, which is attempting to prevent American aggression against our people."
The Russian initiative coincided with comments made by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
During a press conference in London Kerry said Syria could avoid a U.S strike if the country surrendered all of its chemical weapons within a week.
But top US officials now say Kerry's statement is not a serious offer although Washington says it will take a hard look at the Russian initiative.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
"We'll take a step back and we'll look at the Russian statement. We'll see what details lie behind it, but at this point of course we have serious skepticism because of everything Assad has done in the course of the last several years on chemical weapons."
Meanwhile US congress has now started debating President Barack Obama's request for authorization of a military strike on Syria.
Latests polls suggest over half of congress are likely to be opposed to military strikes.
Meantime, there is now German intelligience suggesting the chemical weapons attack on August 21st may mot have been ordered by President Bashar Al-Assad.
The information claims Assad has on numerous occassions made it clear chemical weapons should not be used.
The new intelligence is being seen by some as an indication that Assad may not have full control over the Syrian security establishemnt.
The Chinese government earlier issued a new statement, urging "extreme caution" when it comes to Syria.
 
 
Chief of UN nuclear watchdog says Fukushima leak "high priority"
 
The UN nuclear watchdog says it regards the leak of highly radioactive water from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant as a matter of high priority.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano.
"Recent events are a clear reminder of the continuing impact of the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident. The leak of contaminated water is a matter of high priority that needs to be addressed urgently."
Reported contaminated water tanks from Fukushima were found to have been leaking, with gallons of water flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
On a seperate iusse, Amano has expressed concern over the lack of up-to-date information about Iran's nuclear activities.
Amano's comments come as the EU General Court said it would throw out penalties imposed on eight Iranian banks and businesses for lack of sufficient evidence to justify such sanctions.
Amano says there will be another round of talks on Iran's nuclear programme with the country's negotiators scheduled on the 27th of this month.
 
 
Centre-right wins Norway election
 
In Norways elections early official projections say that the Conservatives and their allies have won the parliamentary election.
Leader of the Conservative Party Erna Solberg is widely expected to form a government with the Progress Party.
Solberg told supporters in Oslo that the outcome was "a historic election victory for the right-wing parties.
Norway's Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is on record saying he would step down after presenting the budget next month.
The Labour leader has been prime minister since 2005.
 
 
Mamnoon Hussain takes oath of office as Pakistan's new president
 
Pakistan's newly elected President Mamnoon Hussain has taken the oath of office in a ceremony at the presidential palace in Islamabad.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by former president Asif Ali Zardari, who stayed in the presidency for a full five year term and stepped down yesterday.
Leaders of all the major political parties and three services chiefs also attended.
Hussain used to be a textile businessman from the newly elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
He is also a longtime member of Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League party and served as governor of Sindh for about four months in 1999.
 
 
former BBC chief defends his payout scheme
 
Former BBC Director General Mark Thompson is being quizzed by British lawmakers over lavish payouts made to outgoing senior executives during his time as BBC boss.
Thompson defended his decision to agree a pay-off of almost 1.5 million US dollars to his former deputy, saying it made more money sense to do so.
"I contemplated not going ahead with this because of the size of the severance, but had we not made Mark Byford redundant, by now the BBC would have spent at least another 1.3 million pounds salary for Mark Byford, and so, although I absolutely recognise that it's a very large amount of money; I recognise the impact it's had, actually, it made better value for money sense for the BBC to make the redundancy and save the money than to leave him in post."
Thompson added that Mr Byford's redundancy was one of a wider effort to cut the number of highly-paid executives and save around 29 million US dollars for the BBC per year.
The BBC has been criticised for paying 39 million US dollars to 150 outgoing executives- 3 million more than their contracts stipulated.
Thompson is now now chief executive of the New York Times newspaper.
 
 
xz-real-name registration for phone users
 
Anchor
Industry insiders are beginning to question whether new rules connected to real-name telephone registration is going to be fully implemented.
CRI's Xie Zhao has more.
Reporter
The new regulation requires all landline and mobile phone users to give their real names when they sign up.
New users of the broadband network and wireless network cards are also for the first time required to register with their real-name.
If telecom operators do not comply with the regulations or fail to cooperate with inspections, they will face penalties ranging from 10-thousand to 30-thousand yuan for each offense.
At present, telecom operators in China, including China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom, have started to follow the regulation.
Hou Guangji from the Market Division of China Mobile, says only after phone users register with their real-name will the phone service be activated for them.
"Specifically speaking, if the phone users do not register with their real names, their cards cannot be activated and used."
The new regulation also includes punitive clauses to prevent companies misusing customers' personal details.
Moreover previous-registered users are encouraged to provide their personal information.
At the same time, sales agents are required to abide by the new regulation.
Du Yonghong, the Deputy Director of the Market Division for China Unicom, says the company has set a higher threshold for their agents.
"We signed the real-name and personal information protection clauses with our agents. And we will stop cooperation with disqualified agents starting from this month"
Some phone users say they are backing the regulation because they believe it protects personal information and curbs the spread of detrimental information.
Female Chinese
"With the new regulation being released, I think there won't be as many spam text-messages or prank calls as now we have."
Male Chinese
"I think the move is good. It will prevent fraud cases because the fraudster can be easily caught."
However not all sees the implementation of the new rules in an optimistic way.
Xiang Ligang is the CEO of CCTime, an online news portal featuring the telecome industry.
"On one hand, some of the agents cannot run relevant business. Meanwhile, the telecom operators will supervise their agents. The cost of the process is high. To some extent, their profit will be cut.
Xiang says it will take time to see how the enforcement goes on.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of 2012, there were around 1.4-billion phone users nationwide.
20-percent of them have not provided ID information.
For CRI, I am XZ.
 
 
Beijing Public Critical of Proposed Traffic Congestion Fees
 
Anchor
News of Beijing considering imposing a traffic-congestion fee has sparked heated debates throughout the city.
CRI's Liu Min has more
Reporter
The determination from the municipal government of Beijing to clean up the air seems to be stronger than ever before. Among numerous measures to be implemented, charging traffic congestion fee is being discussed as an option. The local government is now soliciting public opinions over it.
Director Rong Jun from Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport says that the local government will make a prudent decision in the near future.
"It is not simply about charging congestion fees. It is about reducing the pollution and easing the congestion at the same time. We still need quite a lot of time to figure out whether the congestion fee is needed, and the decision is not yet clear."
As the debate regarding the proposed fines heats up online, many netizens say it is unfair to collect congestion fees, but some people agree with the proposal, citing that traffic congestion is too heavy in Beijing.
"I think the congestion fee will be helpful. Fewer cars hitting the road would mean better air quality. Charging fees seem to be a must-action now."
Recently, the municipal government of Beijing has vowed to clean up the city's air and reduce its density of PM2.5 by 25 percent by 2017. Multiple measures have started to be implemented.
Outside of these industrial pollutants, car emissions is greatly contributing to the air pollution problem in China.
Professor Mao Shoulong, specializing in Public Policy Research from Renmin University, thinks it's inevitable for the local government to collect traffic congestion fees. However, he doubts that the fee collection will make a difference.
"I'm not surprised to hear about the news of collecting a traffic congestion fee in Beijing. Beijing has taken numerous measures, but the situation hasn't been changed. According to the theory of economics of regulation, once the government starts to control something by enforcing regulations, it won't stop doing that but will continue to introduce more and more measures. However, few rules or regulations will finally solve the problem."
Back Anchor: That's CRI's Liu Min.
 
 
 
Biz Reports
 
 
Anchor
First off, a check on the stock market of North America and Europe.
Join me on the desk, CRI's Hu Jia.
Reporter
U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq ending at its highest level since September 2000.
Sentiment was lifted by better-than-expected Chinese exports in August as well as encouraging mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the United States.
Basic materials shares led the day's gains, rising 1.5 percent, after China's August exports handily beat market expectations while consumer inflation held steady.
U.S. Steel Corp. jumped 3.5 percent while Alcoa rose 2 percent.
The US consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 4.4 percent in July, the news also give the market a boost.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.9 percent.
The Standard & Poor's 500 was up 1 percent.
The Nasdaq was up 1.3 percent.
In Canada the S&P/TSX gained 0.3 percent.
European stock markets dropped on Monday.
Energy firms are leading the decline.
Share of Total fell 0.6 percent in Paris and Royal Dutch Shell dropped 0.8 percent in London.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 percent.
France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2 percent.
Germany's DAX closed marginally higher.
 
 
CPI stays low at 2.6% as PPI falls by 1.6%
 
Anchor
China's consumer price index has come in up 2.6 percent year on year in August, down from 2.7 percent in July.
The figure is well below the government's full year target of 3.5-perceent.
At the same time, the producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.6-percent in August from the same month last year.
This is the 18th consecutive month of declines in the PPI.
For more on the CPI and PPI figures, we spoke earlier with Shen Hong from the Wall Street Journal.
Shen Hong with the Wall Street Journal, speaking with CRI's Paul James.
 
 
WTO cuts 2013 world trade forecast to 2.5 percent
 
The World Trade Organization is slashing its forecast of global imports and exports volume to 2.5 percent for this year and 4.5 percent for 2014.
Its previous projection sits at 3.3 percent and 5 percent respectively.
WTO's new chief Roberto Azevedo says detailed figures will be included in the report due out on Sept 19.
He says the cut is due to the European economy which hasn't recovered over the second quarter.
Pascal Lamy, the predecessor of Azevedo, warned that protectionism posted a greater threat to global trade since the start of 2008 economic crisis.
 
 
Japan's economic growth data revised higher
 
An upward revised economic output for Japan from April to June is adding to hopes the world's third largest economy is recovering.
The Japanese economy expanded 0.9 percent over the period, beating the initial estimate of 0.6 percent growth.
The annualized growth rate stands at 3.8 percent.
The revision comes as Abe's administration is poised to raise the country's sales tax rate, which currently stands at 5 percent and could double to 10 percent by 2015.
Meanwhile, the 2020 Olympic win for Tokyo has also given Japan's economy a further boost.
It is being reported Japan will spend 8 billion US dollars on refurbishing old stadiums and building new ones.
The country's key stock index Nikkei 225 jumped more than 2 percent on Monday.
 
 
U.K. to Ban Traditional Chinese Medicine Sales in 2014
 
Media reports are suggesting that UK is tentatively to issue a ban on the sale of Chinese patent medicine or Unlicensed Herbal Products in the coming year.
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency or MHRA in Britain has warned British people not to use a number of unlicensed traditional Chinese medicines.
Prior to that, the MHRA asked vendors to report their inventories of TCM remedies in preparation for such a ban.
 
 
China Vanke: Jan-August Sales Rise 34 Percent YoY to CNY 113 Bn
 
China Vanke, the country's largest residential property developer, is reporting its sales value for August reached 15.3 billion yuan.
That brings the company's total sales through August to 113 billion yuan, making it the first Chinese property developer to surpass the 100 billion yuan threshold in sales for the period.
The increase also marks a 34 percent jump on an annualized basis for the first eight months.
Meanwhile the company sold a cumulated 9.7 million square meters of residential housing, up 20.5 percent year on year.
Average sales price rose more than 11-percent year on year.
 
 
SCA to bid for control of Chinese tissue maker Vinda
 
Swedish hygiene products firm SCA is bidding for the Chinese tissue maker Vinda for 1.4 billion US dollars.
The bid represents a 34.5 percent premium over Vinda's average closing price over the last month.
The Swedish firm says the move is part of its plan to push into fast-growing Asian markets.
SCA already owned nearly 22 percent of Vinda's shares says it hope to finalize the deal in the fourth quarter.
SCA - the world's third-biggest maker of tissues, toilet paper and wipes - plans to present the complete prospectus by end of this month.
 
 
PetroChina denies reports of more officials being investigated
 
PetroChina, the listed arm of the China National Petroleum Corporation, is rejecting media reports that two of its executives were under investigation for graft.
The China Business News is reporting PetroChina vice president Sun Longde and director Wang Guoliang were detained on Thursday.
PetroChina has since issued a new statment, saying Wang Guoliang and Sun Longde are performing their duties as normal.
Wang Yongchun, one of CNPC's vice presidents, is reportedly the subject of a government probe.
And Jiang Jiemin, a former CNPC chair, is also under investigation.
Trading in PetroChina shares was suspended this morning in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
 
 
Headline News
 
 
China, Uzbekistan vow to deepen strategic partnership
 
China and Uzbekistan has vowed to further boost bilateral cooperation and deepen their strategic partnership.
The two countries made the pledge in a joint declaration issued following talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov.
During their discussion, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that China-Uzbekistan relations boast a unique advantage of high-level mutual trust.
For his part, Karimov said China has provided sincere help in Uzbekistan's development.
Both the leaders also hailed energy cooperation as a priority, pledging to build a safe and reliable natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.
After their talks, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents in such fields as economy and trade, energy, investment and financing.
After Uzbekistan, the Chinese president is to pay a state visit to Kyrgyzstan, where he will also attend a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
 
 
UN calls on Syria to give up chemical weapons stockpiles and their destruction
 
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says he may ask the Security Council to demand Syria give up its chemical arms stocks and have them destroyed.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has backed the plan, making the suggestion to his Syrian counterpart, to avoid US military strikes.
Meanwhile US congress has now started debating President Barack Obama's request for authorization of a military strike on Syria.
Latests polls suggest over half of congress are likely to be opposed to military strikes.
Meantime, there is now German intelligience suggesting the chemical weapons attack on August 21st may mot have been ordered by President Bashar Al-Assad.
The information claims Assad has on numerous occassions made it clear chemical weapons should not be used.
The Chinese government earlier issued a new statement, urging "extreme caution" when it comes to Syria.
 
 
Centre-right wins Norway election
 
In Norways elections early official projections say that the Conservatives and their allies have won the parliamentary election.
Leader of the Conservative Party Erna Solberg is widely expected to form a government with the Progress Party.
Solberg told supporters in Oslo that the outcome was "a historic election victory for the right-wing parties.
Norway's Labour Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is on record saying he would step down after presenting the budget next month.
The Labour leader has been prime minister since 2005.
 
 
CPI stays low at 2.6% as PPI falls by 1.6%
 
China's consumer price index has come in up 2.6 percent year on year in August.
This is down from 2.7 percent in July and well below the government's full year target of 3.5-perceent.
At the same time, the producer price index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level, fell 1.6-percent in August from the same month last year.
This is the 18th consecutive month of declines in the PPI.
 
 
Newspaper Picks
 
 
Beijing News
China to punish web users who spread rumors online
Summary:
Chinese Internet users could face up to three years in prison for writing defamatory messages which are re-posted 500 times.
They could also be jailed if offending posts are viewed more than 5,000 times.
People will face defamation charges if they post online rumors that elicit such a response.
Beijing Morning Post
Bucket blast kills 2, injures 44
Summary:
A massive explosion near a school in Lingchuan, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, killed two people and seriously injured at least 44.
A driver was recorded on a motor tricycle carrying a metal bucket immediately before the explosion.
Police are still investigating.
Beijing Times
11 people face judicial probe for factory blast
Summary:
Eleven people responsible for a factory blast in Shandong Province have been transferred to judicial departments while 21 others were punished.
The explosion killed 33 and injured other 19.
Investigators from the State Council blamed the incident on the factory's long-term chaotic management and government oversight.
Shanghai Daily
Products of top fashion brands fail quality tests
Summary:
Some batches of clothing from world's leading fashion and luxury brands including H&M, FOREVER 21, American Apparel, Diesel and Lacoste have been found to have quality problems.
The problems range from poor color fastness and fiber content to a high pH index.
China Daily
Official calls for improved elevator safety
Summary:
Quality-inspection authorities are calling for the training of more elevator maintenance professionals and have urged greater public awareness of elevator safety issues.
China faces a shortage of such personnel, and the administration is under pressure to resolve the problem after a string of elevator accidents that have killed passengers.
Global Times
Health reform inspection task force launched
Summary:
Central authorities dispatched six special inspection teams to supervise grass-roots medical reform in 12 provincial-level regions.
The inspection will focus on the operation of the essential drug system, structural reform and income distribution.
It will also examine rural doctor services and personnel stability.
South China Metropolitan Daily
Expat charged 2,300 yuan for 4km taxi ride
Summary:
A Shanghai taxi driver loses his license after charging a Japanese passenger 2,300 yuan for a four-kilometer ride.
The driver stopped at a gas station, locked the doors, demanded the passenger pay up and forced him out after charging the exorbitant fare.
The driver's license was revoked and was forced to pay the money back.
 
 
Sports
 
 
Lin Dan powers through to semis, but Chen Long out of National Games
 
In Badminton action,
Lin Dan has booked his place in the semifinals of the Chinese National Games, while top players Chen Long, Wang Yihan and Wang Shixian all went out.
Lin will now play another young player Huang Yuxiang of Zhejiang.
In the women's singles,
Reigning Olympic champion and top seed Li Xuerui of the PLA is through to the final.
She is up against Liu Xin later today.
In other action at the national games,
Former world champion Li Yanfeng failed to defend her women's discus title as the injury-plagued veteran could only throw a 63.91 meter best to take silver.
Sichuan's Tan Jian, who placed sixth at the Moscow World Championships last month, hurled 64.11m to clinch the gold.
In the men's 110m hurdles event,
China's superstar hurdler and three-time defending champion Liu Xiang's injury meant he was still out.
But his teammate Xie Wenjun clocked 13.36 seconds to win the gold medal for Shanghai again.
Liaoning's Zhao Qinggang took the men's javelin gold with a personal best of 83.14 meters.
25-year-old middle distance runner Zhao Jing of Shanghai clocked a season best of two minutes, 2.36 seconds to win the women's 800m title.
Meanwhile in basketball The People's Liberation Army (PLA) team beat Jiangsu 98-87 to claim the women's senior title.
Bronze went to the Heilongjiang team.
 
 
Chinese athletes struggle to promote themselves
 
Anchor
Some say that Chinese athletes lack of global fame is a sign that the national sports programs are underdeveloped.
CRI's Jordan Lee is in Shenyang with more.
Reporter
This summer China was overrun with NBA stars.
Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, and Tony Parker were among those who visited China's major cities to promote companies like Nike, Adidas, and Li Ning.
Why all the foreign faces? China has basketball players in the NBA, so why not use them to appeal to Chinese consumers?
The obvious answer is that Chinese athletes lack star power.
One reason, is because Chinese athletes aren't marketing themselves in the same way as their western counterparts.
Wang Lei, a sports journalist from Jinzhou, said Chinese athletes don't prioritize building a personal brand.
The exceptions would be Yao Ming and Li Na, who have successfully broken through to international fame.
"Star promotion is important for sports, just like Yao Ming in basketball and Li Na in tennis – without them, those sports would not be this popular in China."
Li Na and Yao Ming spent a lot of time inking sponsorship deals. In 2011, CCTV reported that Li's endorsement fee reached 200 million yuan, topping Yao Ming's 130 million.
But Li Na and Yao Ming are the exception.
Most of China's athletes are managed within a tight training system that doesn't allow any free time for fame-building.
One of the best examples is Sun Yang, who has become the face of Chinese swimming.
The Olympic champion was recently disciplined by officials within the national sports system for spending too much time on commercial activities and not enough time in the pool training.
Leaders at Sun yang's Zhejiang academy said quote, "Zhejiang only has excellent athletes, no special athletes. Although Sun Yang has realized his faults, everyone is equal before the regulations, no matter who they are."
When asked how he balances commercial activities and training, the swimmer didn't allude to the discipline.
Rather, he said he thinks he can find a way to pursue both without interference.
"I do most of my commercial shootings during my spare time. A lot of these commercials are underwater. Sometimes I stay in the pool for the whole day shooting a commercial, so in way, it's like training. So I think I can totally find a balance between the two."
Another reason that Chinese athletes lack star power is that the sports they excel in aren't globally popular.
Table tennis, diving, and badminton for instance.
Badminton fan, Zou Bing Lei, says China's badminton king Lin Dan would be a celebrity in countries like America, if Americans were better at badminton.
"It's the same reason Americans follow the NBA. Chinese players excel at badminton, so the Chinese are really enthusiastic about this sport. If Americans became better at badminton, I think that the American people would start to participate more in the sport and pay more attention to badminton's top athletes."
Wang Fanfan, a college student from Shenyang, agreed.
"The way I understand it is that westerners only like basketball and football right?"
Not exactly, but it is true that the world badminton championships receive lower TV ratings in western countries than the NBA playoffs or World Cup.
For CRI, I'm Jordan Lee
 
 
Tom Chilton and Gabriele Tarquini win in Sonoma
 
The 2013 World Touring Cars Championship are underway in California.
Tom Chilton, driving one of the RML Chevrolet Cruze cars, has secured pole position in race 17.
The second race belonged to a far more experienced driver - Gabriele Tarquini.
For Tarquini, it was a return to the winner's circle, nearly five months after his first victory at the wheel of the Honda Civic.
His race wins enough for Honda to secure the Manufacturers' title with three meetings of the season remaining.
The championship will resume in two weeks for rounds 19 and 20 at Suzuka, in Japan on September 22nd.
 
 
Cyclist Lance Armstrong has yet to hand back his Olympic medal
 
The International Olympic Committee says cyclist Lance Armstrong has still not returned his Olympic medal, nine months after being stripped for drug doping.
IOC has ordered the return of the bronze medal Armstrong won in the Sydney 2000 Games and declared the race results void in 2012
IOC Vice President Thomas Bach.
"This decision has not been challenged. On the other hand, we did not have the medal back yet so we will have to continue to work with the United States Olympic Committee to finally get this medal back as requested in our decision."
Earlier this year, Armstrong admitted his using performance-enhancing substance　in a public confession.
 
 
Frank Lampard to win 100th England cap
 
England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed Frank Lampard will earn his 100th cap against Ukraine on Tuesday.
ENGLAND CAPTAIN. STEVEN GERRARD says he's very happy for his team mate:
"Yeah I think it's going to be a fantastic occasion for Frank, I'm absolutely delighted for him to get the 100 caps. Obviously me and Ashley (Cole) have done that recently as well and we're going to move on to the same number as the legend in Billy Wright so it's going to be a special occasion all round really but we all want to remember it for the right result really. I lost on my 100th cap and hopefully that can be different for Frank and he can go away with fond memories."
England lead Group H but will be overtaken by Ukraine if they lose.
In other world cup qualifier action on Tuesday,
France will head into their vital World Cup qualifier against Belarus.
Germany will be against the Faroe Islands in Torshavn. And Germany should easily prevail against the Faroes team that has lost all seven qualifying games so far.
Turkey will take on Romania in Bucharest.
And USA will face Mexico.
 
 
Brooklyn Nets to retire coach Jason Kidd's No. 5 jersey
 
The Brooklyn Nets are to retire the No. 5 jersey of Jason Kidd, who led the franchise to its greatest NBA success as a player and is now its coach.
The Nets say the ceremony will take place Oct. 17 before their preseason game against the Miami Heat.
Kidd led the New Jersey Nets to the 2002 and 2003 NBA Finals and is their career leader in numerous statistical categories.
He ended his 19-year playing career after spending last season with the New York Knicks, and the Nets hired him as their coach in June.
He will be the sixth Nets player to have his number retired, following Julius Erving, Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni and Buck Williams.
 
 
Entertainment
 
 
Zhang Yimou's first Peking Opera You and Me to be staged in Beijing
 
Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou's first Peking Opera is set to hit the stage in the National Center for Performing Arts during the upcoming National Holiday.
Zhang's Peking Opera, titled You and Me, takes inspiration from a 27-hundred year old royal tale of Chinese histroy.
It tells the story of a king whose brother and mother trap him in a political conspiracy.
The opera displays the Chinese tradition of filial love.
Although Zhang Yimou was absent from the rehearsal, he has shared some insight into the show.
"Performing itself has gone through a rapid development in the past few decades, with more and more sophisticated and innovate methods. But it has nothing to do with Peking Opera. Peking Opera is something pure. Its atheistic value lies in symbolization and conception. It Just like, three or five paces can stand for the traveling around the world. Six or seven people can stand for a army. I hope to present the opera from such an atheistic perspective."
The opera stars all-star cast, such as reknowned Peking opera performers Shang Changrong, Chen Shaoyun, and Li Mingyan.
 
 
Toronto Film Festival updates
 
Filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron's new film Gravity is receiving even more positive feedback at this year's Toronto International Film Festival than it did from the recently concluded Venice Film Festival.
Last week legendary filmmaker James Cameron regaled Gravity with praise saying it has the best space photography he has ever seen.
In Toronto the film is wowing audiences as well with many festival-goers and critics alike calling it the best film of the festival.
Meanwhile, fans were treated to Indian filmmaker Ritesh Batra's new film the Lunchbox starring Bollywood star Irrfan Khan.
The whimsical story follows the journey of a lunchbox, which is delivered to the wrong address.
Batra opened up about his philosophy on how stories come to fruition.
"Stories choose people also, as much as people like to think they choose the stories. If you don't write it, you know, they go looking for another writer."
Filmmaker Ron Howard's new racing film Rush has also premiered at the festival with the whole cast including Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Bruhl, and Olivia Wilde in attendance.
The film tells the true story of the rivalry between two Formula One drivers in 1976.
Hemsworth opened up about how he prepared for the role of driver James Hunt.
"It was biographies, speaking to people who knew him. Speaking to people who raced against him at the time, or with him and then looking through a whole load of archive footage and interviews. So that was the most insightful stuff."
The festival runs until September 15th.
 
 
David Bowie Confirms Recording with Arcade Fire
 
It has been confirmed David Bowie has a minor appearance in Grammy Award winning band Arcade Fire's new single Reflektor.
Bowie confirmed the collaboration on his facebook page, posting he contributed a brief backing vocal.
The new track was produced by LCD Soundsystem member James Murphy.
The song is the first we've heard from the band since they won the Album of the Year Grammy for their 2010 album The Suburbs.
The band will be making a major announcement in a few hours time.
 
 
Ellen Page to be Action Star
 
Quirky screen gem Ellen Page will reportedly star in a spy action thriller film called Queen and Country in which she'll try to stop a terrorist plot.
Page rose to fame for her performance in the offbeat teen-pregnancy comedy Juno.
The new action film is based on a comic book which in turn was based on the 1970s British ITV series The Sandbaggers.
Many are comparing Page's role in the upcoming film as a female Jack Ryan from the hit US counterterrorist show 24.
Page will also be reprising her role as the mutant Kitty Pryde in the upcoming superhero flick X-men Days of Future Past.
 
 
 
Recapping our top headlines....
China and Uzbekistan vow to deepen it’s strategic partnership
Chinese and US defense officials meet here in Beijing
UN calls on Syria to give up chemical weapons stockpiles
Business
China's consumer price index up 2.6 percent year on year in August
On behalf of the Beijing Hour team, I'm Rebecca Hume in Beijing, hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together!