新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/12/05

The Beijing HourEvening EditionSpencer Musick with you on this Saturday December 5th 2015.

Welcome to the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital.

Coming up on the program this evening...

Chinese President Xi Jinping putting forward a 5-point proposal on further deepening win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

A new round of talks between Chinese and Japanese officials connected to maritime issues set to take place next week.

And a US official says it is unlikely that the San Bernardino shooting involved a larger extremist network....

In the 2nd half of the hour, it is our weekly round up of what's been happening in the business world...

In sports... Only one Chinese player left standing in the last four of the UK Snooker Championship....

And in entertainment... the Martian sits atop the Chinese box office...

Top NewsChinese President Raises 5-Point Proposal on Promoting China-Africa CooperationChinese President Xi Jinping has put forward a 5-point proposal on further deepening win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

He raised the proposal during an address at the closing ceremony of the High-Level Dialogue between Chinese-African Leaders and Business Communities and the 5th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs in Johannesburg.

CRI's Xie Cheng reports.

During the dialogue, President Xi expressed China's sincere hopes to share its industrialization experiences with African countries and help the continent with a variety of means of support.

"The achievement of inclusive and sustainable development in Africa hinges on industrialization, which holds the key to creating jobs, eradicating poverty, and improving people's living standards. Africa's path to industrialization can be only found by the African people through their own practice and exploration. It is China's sincere hope to share its experience with African countries, and we are willing to provide capital, technology and personnel in support of Africa's industrialization."President Xi suggested that China and African countries stick to equality-based, win-win cooperation, meaning both sides should strike a right balance between principles and profits, and jointly build a community of common destiny.

Openness and inclusiveness is also an indispensable feature, which requires welcoming the involvement of enterprises from different countries on the bases of mutual benefit.

He also added that bilateral cooperation should prioritize infrastructure construction so as to bring tangible benefits to all people.

"In the areas of infrastructure building, investment and trade facilitation, China-Africa cooperation will create more investment and trade opportunities for companies from the two sides, thus enhance the competitiveness of African industries and close the infrastructure gap in Africa."President Xi also stressed the importance of pursuing green and sustainable development, and said China will help its African partners in related areas.

"In the fields of modern agriculture and green development, poverty reduction and people's welfare, China-Africa cooperation will enable companies from the two sides to share advanced know-how and help African countries establish a sustainable development model, enhance independent development capacity, improve the public governance and raise the quality of life of the African people."President Xi also noted that the two sides should focus on practical cooperation oriented to capacity building, and pledged that China will share advanced, applicable technologies with Africa with no reservations and deepen industrial cooperation via a combination of Chinese competitive industries and African needs.

This will help improve the quality of the African workforce, increase employment rates and lift the continent's growth impetus.

According to President Xi, China has become Africa's principal cooperation partner in several significant areas.

By the end of last year, the total stock of Chinese investment in Africa had reached 101 billion U.S. dollars, creating over 3100 Africa-based enterprises, and two-way trade also reached over 220 billion U.S. dollars.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

African Countries Hail President Xi's Historic Speech on Stronger TiesLeaders and experts across Africa have spoken highly of China's commitment to upgrade China-Africa relations.

Their comments came after Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech announcing 10 major cooperation programs between the two sides.

CRI's Fei Fei with more on the opinions from the African side.

African leaders have welcomed with enthusiasm Chinese President Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the second summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, saying the new initiatives announced by the president dovetail nicely with the priorities of Africa.

South African President Jacob Zuma says Africa and China need to work together to ensure that road, rail, air power and water infrastructures are put in place.

"In addition, equipment and appropriate technology offered by the Chinese will help us extract and process our abundant resources to the required specifications which meet international standards. We are happy to note that China is already demonstrating its commitment to help Africa to achieve these noble objectives through its three networks and industrialization initiatives."Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, when addressing the summit, has expressed his gratitude for China's cooperation with Africa.

"I'm particularly pleased that the second summit is a clear demonstration of the friendship, mutual respect and understanding between African countries and China. Our relationship with China has stood the test of time and is destined to continue flourishing for many years to come. "African experts and officials also applauded the 10-point major program.

Mohamed Ismail, director of the African Department with Sudan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says the new package presented by the president of China will upgrade the FOCAC forum to a higher level.

"And we are very sure that it is an entrenched desire from China to consolidate and further enhance the cooperation between China and all the African countries, and to assist us in development and in humanitarian assistance just as happened in northern Africa when China came promptly to assist these countries who were inflicted by Ebola disease."At the same time, Stanslous Ngosa, a feature writer for the Times of Zambia said that the cancellation of the outstanding debts had great meaning for his country.

"The speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping is so inspiring, especially the 10-point cooperation program that applies to Africa, specifically the cancellation of the African debts. This, to Zambia, may allow its resources to the least-developed countries that are urgently in need of funds."Chinese President Xi Jinping co-chairs the second summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation with South African President Jacob Zuma from Friday to Saturday in South Africa's Johannesburg.

In a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Friday, Xi Jinping announced ten major programs to boost China-Africa cooperation in the coming three years.

The initiatives cover the areas of industrialization, agricultural modernization, infrastructure, financial services, and green development among others.

To ensure smooth implementation of the cooperation plans, China will offer 60 billion U.S. dollars of funding support.

For CRI, this is Fei Fei.

China issues new Africa policy paperChina has issued a second Africa policy paper, as Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a summit of the Forum on China-African Cooperation.

The paper consists of 5-parts, including China's relations with Africa, principles of China's African policy, China's all-round cooperation with Africa, FOCAC and its follow-up actions, as well as China's relations with African regional organizations.

It is designed to further clarify "China's determination and goodwill to develop friendly and cooperative relations with Africa," and to expound China's new vision and measures concerning China-Africa cooperation.

The first version of the document was issued in 2006. This latest paper underlines that China has been Africa's largest trading partner since 2009, with trade volume between the two sides rising four-fold in the past ten years.

In 2006, the Chinese government proposed a new type of China-Africa strategic partnership featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation, and greater cultural exchanges.

Fore more on China-Africa cooperation, CRI's Bob Jones spoke earlier to Ambassador Zhong Jianhua, China's Special Representative on African Affairs, who's in Johannesburg.

New round of smog to hit BeijingA new round of smog is forecast to hit Beijing and neighboring regions Saturday night and will stick around for at least four days.

The smog will reduce visibility to 3 to 5 kilometers Sunday in Beijing, Tianjin and parts of Hebei Province.

The situation, however, is predicted to worsen on Tuesday and Wednesday, when visibility will be less than 1 kilometer.

The dominant pollutant will be PM2.5, particles with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers.

The Beijing weather bureau said this round of smog will not be as serious as the previous, which lasted from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.

The recent smog which dissipated on Tuesday prompted the Beijing municipal government to issue its first orange alert, the second-highest level.

The notorious air pollution suffered by Beijing and its surrounding areas is caused in large part by vehicle exhaust emissions and coal burning in heavy industries and municipal heating in winter.

China, Japan to Hold Consultations on Maritime AffairsA new round of talks between Chinese and Japanese officials connected to maritime issues are set to take place next week.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying says the forthcoming sessions in Xiamen are meant to try to build up trust between the two sides.

"The China-Japan high-level consultation on maritime affairs is a way for both sides to come together with mutual goals in mind. We're hoping this will be a thorough exchange of opinions from both sides when it comes to our issues at sea. We hope it will build up mutual understanding and trust."The talks are set to begin on Monday, and will include representatives from the Chinese and Japanese Defense, Foreign and Maritime Affairs departments.

China and Japan have been at odds over which country controls the Diaoyu Islands off the northeast coast of Taiwan.

The talks set to begin on Monday were first established in early 2012 to try to defuse tensions connected to the dispute.

Divisions Remain Stark as Negotiators Prepare Final Draft at COP21Divisions are said to be stark among different countries when it comes to a new global climate agreement.

Negotiators have been working hard preparing to wrap up their work finalizing a draft agreement at the ongoing UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Officials from nearly 200 countries have composed 2 texts of the agreement as of Friday.

Financial help and division of responsibility between developed and developing countries continue to be part of the climate talks.

Xie Zhenhua, China's special representative on climate change, urged developed countries to fulfill their obligations to provide 100 billion U.S. dollars per year to help developing countries.

"There is a huge disagreement on whether developed countries should fulfill their funding obligations or whether more channels are needed to solve the problem. China's position is that developed countries have to meet their commitment before 2020."The United States and European Union are still reluctant to put down any hard money figures they are willing to provide as financial support for developing countries.

Meantime, Pa Ousman Jariu, Gambian minister of environment and climate change, stressed the importance of strengthening the 2 degrees long-term goal to a safer 1.5 maximum for least developed countries and small island developing states.

"1.5 is critical for the LDCs and SIDS. It's a matter of survival, and for us there is no way that we can have an agreement that does not take into consideration of the 1.5 degree issue because we've seen the review, which has indicated that below two degrees, it's not a safety zone."Next week, ministers will take over the talks and make decisions on issues that remain unresolved.

APP Aims to Help Shy Students Speak OutA pair of students at Fudan University in Shanghai have come out with a new smart phone application which allows students to more easily communicate with their professors while in lectures.

CRI's Li Jianhua has more.

The APP, 'zenkr', allows students to participate in class, not through a show of hands, but by communicating through their smartphones.

Users scan a QR codes projected on screens with their smartphones or other devices and then answer questions.

The results are then collated and shown to the professor.

"I feel that the traditional way of the class is low in efficiency, when questions are asked but no one answers. Secondly, many of our generation are relatively more introverted, so this traditional way of taking part in class is not something that makes us more comfortable."Zhang Xinyu, along with co-designer Ding Shu, they put they came up with the concept to try to help increase communication between students and their teachers.

The juniors at Fudan University in Shanghai are both majoring in Computer Science.

Sun Weiwei, Associate Professor with Fudan's Computer Sciences department, says the app has helped her better judge which students in her program are understanding the course material.

"The most obvious think is that it's made communicating more efficient in my class. Before the students created the app, I would really only hear from a few in my lectures. But now, I know I have a better idea of how all my students are understanding what I'm trying to teach them."'Zenkr' is now being used in more than 40 different classes at Fudan University, New York University in Shanghai, as well as certain high schools in the United States.

"We normally have a lot of questions that need answering during class. But many of my fellow students are afraid to ask questions when taking part in the lectures because they're worried about 'losing face.' But with the new app, if our instructors ask us if we have any question, at least we're able to inform our teachers whether or not we understand the material."'Zenkr' is currenly free of charge, but is only available through invitation from the app's inventors.

At this point, neither the students or Fudan University have plans to try to make the app a commercial venture, despite being approached by a number of possible investors.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

Controversy over Jail Term for Bird HunterA controversy is raging on over a lengthy jail term for a college student who was jailed for hunting endangered birds in central China, despite a court ruling upholding the sentence.

CRI's Liu Yuanhui reports.

In an appeal hearing earlier this week, the Intermediate People's Court of Xinxiang City in Henan upheld the original verdict.

The student, surnamed Yan, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in jail for illegally hunting and selling endangered animals, while his friend, surnamed Wang, got 10 years in prison, for poaching.

The two were also fined 10,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan respectively.

The rulings were first given by the court in Huixian County this May, but has triggered debate ever since.

An online poll conducted by Tencent showed close to 90 percent of the over 120-thousand netizens surveyed thought the penalties were too heavy.

Some of those surveyed cited reports that Yan had once claimed that he didn't know that the birds he caught were protected.

But Zhang Peifeng with the intermediate court of Xinxiang said Yan was clear about the bird's value.

"In his testimonies, the defendant confessed to selling the birds via QQ. The messages recovered from his cellphone also showed that he had been aware that these birds are protected when he decided to sell them. The evidence we have is enough to prove he knew his conduct was illegal."Investigations show Yan and Wang took 12 Eurasian Hobbies from nests in July last year.

One of the birds flew away and another died later.

Then the two posted the birds' picture online and sold the remaining 10 for money.

They later caught two more Eurasian Hobbies, and Yan also illegally bought a crested goshawk.

Both crested goshawk and Eurasian Hobby are Class-B protected animals in China, where hunting, killing or selling such animals can carry a maximum sentence of more than 10 years in prison.

But some netizens argued that a more lenient sentence could be imposed as Yan had said he didn't know much about the related laws.

However, Ruan Qilin with China University of Political Science and Law believes that's no excuse.

"Insufficient understanding of law could never be a reason to get an offending person exempt from punishments. It's not acceptable. It will undermine the authority of law."Ruan Qilin also said the final ruling is significant especially for wild animal protection in China.

"Protecting endangered animals is to help protect the biodiversity. The country has made laws aimed at preventing these animals from being hunted and killed. Anyone should be punished if hunting such animals. In many places around the country, wildlife is still neglected. It's why the ruling has made so many people surprised and appeared significant."In the latest development, Yan's father has hired a lawyer to seek a retrial, and Henan High People's Court will hear the case.

Illegal hunting of wild birds is still rampant in China despite years of crackdown.

The hunted birds are either sold to bird markets or restaurants.

The law professor Ruan Qilin also urged efforts to be made to step up education campaigns in this regard.

During a recent trip to a wildlife sanctuary in Zimbabwe, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the country's commitment to wildlife protection.

For CRI, I'm Liu Yuanhui.

No Evidence of Terrorist Cell in California Shooting: FBIFBI Director James Comey said on Friday no evidence so far suggests the mass shooting in California's San Bernardino on Wednesday was the act of a larger extremist network.

"Our investigation to date, and again its only two days old, so far, we have no indication that these killers are part of an organized larger group or form part of a cell. There's no indication that they are part of a network. Again, I quickly add, it is early, we're still working very hard to understand, but I want you to know that so far, we don't see such indications."The comments came shortly after an agent from the FBI office in Los Angeles called the shooting a "terrorist act." Comey added it seemed that shooters were radicalized and inspired by "foreign terrorist organizations."Meanwhile, a lawyer representing one of the shooters' families David Chesley cautioned against a hasty conclusion on the nature of the shooting.

"All there is, and this is much to the frustration, I think, of the FBI, and everyone, because we all want an answer, we all are angry, we're all frustrated, we're all sad. We want justice. But unfortunately some things in life aren't as clear-cut as that, and all there is thus far is some nebulous thing that somebody looked at something on Facebook. I mean, anyone of us may have looked at something on Facebook, it doesn't mean we believe in it."Investigators say some of the shooters' Facebook posts could point to the motives behind the killing, which left 14 dead. However, no details about those posts have been confirmed. Facebook says it has taken down the profile page in question.

EU members agree to exchange air passenger dataEuropean Union members reached deal on exchange of air passenger data on Friday.

Luxembourg Interior Minister Etienne Schneider, who chaired the council of 28 EU governments in Brussels, made the announcement.

"I am hereby proud to confirm that, after many years of discussions, we finally managed to reach an agreement on a European Passenger Name Record on the Council's side."EU governments and the European Parliament had been wrangling over security forces' use of airline passenger data for years.

Islamist attacks in Paris this year, in January and last month, compelled France and other governments to press the EU parliament to strike a compromise.

The deal foresees data being available to other countries' security agencies for six months, which will be stored and available under stricter rules for a further four and half years.

Passenger Name Record, or PNR, includes name, travel dates, itinerary, ticket details, contact details, travel agent, means of payment, seat number and baggage information.

Many police forces already collect it and many European states share it with each other and with countries outside Europe.

But the lack of a common EU system, including data formats, has been seen as hampering European security.

No output ceiling set by OPEC with oil producers reluctant to cut supplyDespite oil prices hitting their lowest level in some 6-years this past year, OPEC has decided not to cut production.

Ministers attending a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries say at least 30 million barrels of oil per day are going to continue to be pumped-out by the export bloc.

Current OPEC President Emmanuel Kachikwu says at this point OPEC can't make cuts while the rest of the oil-producing world continues to pump out oil at a faster pace.

"The only way OPEC functions is by cutting volumes. The world dynamics has changed. We need to look at other parameters for sustaining price. We need to look at negotiations between OPEC members and non-OPEC members. OPEC produces only about 35 to 40 percent of world consumption. So even if we keep cutting that doesn't solve any problem."Iran, one of the largest producers among OPEC-member countries, is expected to see its output increase by at least 500-thousand barrels a day next year when international sanctions against the country are lifted connected to its nuclear programs.

Headline NewsChinese President Raises 5-Point Proposal on Promoting China-Africa CooperationChinese President Xi Jinping has put forward a 5-point proposal on further deepening win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

He raised the proposal during an address at the closing ceremony of the High-Level Dialogue between Chinese-African Leaders and Business Communities and the 5th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs in Johannesburg.

During the dialogue, President Xi expressed China's sincere hopes to share its industrialization experiences with African countries and help the continent with a variety of means of support.

President Xi suggested that China and African countries stick to equality-based, win-win cooperation.

He also added that bilateral cooperation should prioritize infrastructure construction so as to bring tangible benefits to all people.

AU Chairperson Commends Chinese President's Speech at FOCAC SummitAfrican Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has commended Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech at the opening ceremony of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Johannesburg.

She said the speech identified areas that are on the African agenda 2063, and that African states are ready to cooperate with China in order to promote growth and social transformation.

She added that a partnership with China will be critical to helping African countries implement ambitious infrastructure projects, and also expressed gratitude that President Xi announced a new financing tranche to accelerate their development.

In his keynote speech at the first FOCAC summit held in Africa, President Xi outlined a raft of measures to revitalize Sino-Africa ties in key areas including trade, infrastructure, finance and investment.

Three killed in attempt to arrest suspect in north LebanonIt is being reported that a wanted suspect detonated a hand grenade when an army unit raided his residence in Lebanon's capital Beirut.

The suicide bombing killed three people, including suspect Mohammed Hamza, his mother and his niece.

His sister and five soldiers were injured in the attack.

It is said Hamza was a follower of local extremist Osama Mansour, one of Lebanon's most notorious jihadi fighters, who was shot dead in April.

China's CITIC wins 262 mln USD contract for building cement plant in CambodiaChina's leading cement equipment manufacturer and service provider secured an engineering, procurement and construction contract from a Cambodian conglomerate.

CITIC Heavy Industries Company will invest 262 million U.S. dollars to build a cement plant in Cambodia.

Under the contract, CITIC will carry out the detailed engineering design of the project, procure all the equipment and materials, and then construct a cement plant for a local cement corporation.

Weekly Biz Roundup(Saturday)Anchor:

It's time to take a look back at some of the headlines from the world of business in our Weekly Business Review.

The admission of Chinese currency into IMF's benchmark basket was the biggest story making headlines in China and around the world this week.

We will also look at China's cooperation with African countries, a hot topic of discussion during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the continent.

Let's catch up on all of that and more with CRI's Wenjie.

+++++++++++++On Monday, the International Monetary Fund officially announced that the Chinese currency is eligible for joining the Special Drawing Rights basket as an international reserve currency.

The inclusion of the RMB will take effect October 1 of next year.

Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, made the announcement in Washington.

"The IMF's executive board decided that the renminbi qualified for the SDR basket and existing criteria."Lagarde says the decision is an important milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system.

According to IMF, the RMB will have a weighting of 10.92 percent in the new SDR basket.

China's Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao described the inclusion as a win-win decision, since both China and the rest of the world will benefit from it.

"This is not just in the Chinese interest. It is the IMF's interest. It is in the global interest. We hope the decision made can benefit the Chinese side with a more open financial sector reform and make the IMF SDR boast more attractiveness and more representativeness."He also added that the country is continuing a manageable floating system so as to make the economy led by innovation rather than investment.

The IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket is a type of international reserve asset that IMF members can turn to in times of need.

The basket is currently made up of the US dollar, the euro, the British Pound and the Japanese Yen.

It's composition is reviewed every five years.

+++++++++After IMF's admission of yuan's into its benchmark basket, China's Cabinet has decided to set up pilot zones to open up financial reforms in the country.

One pilot zone will be established in Taizhou of east China's Zhejiang province with a focus on advancing innovation, online services and financing for micro and small businesses.

The second one is in northeastern province of Jilin, aiming to launch financial services in the agriculture sector.

The meeting also said that a new pilot zone will be established in each of the existing Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian free trade zones to develop cross-strait financial co-operation.

+++++++++China's stock market will launch a circuit breaker mechanism on the first day of next year to curb wild swings in the stock market.

With approval from the country's securities regulator, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and China Financial Futures Exchange issued relevant regulations on the mechanism on Friday.

+++++++++A series of deals have been reached between China and countries in Africa, as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Africa.

Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Shen Danyang says bilateral cooperation now covers more areas.

"China-Africa cooperation has covered industry, finance, tourism, telecommunications, aviation, broadcast and television. More and more Chinese enterprises are focusing on the African market and will make greater contributions to Africa's development."On Tuesday, the state-owned Power China has announced that it has signed an agreement to loan 1.2 billion U.S. dollars to rehabilitate and expand Zimbabwe's coal-fired Hwange power plant.

On Wednesday, 26 bilateral agreements were signed, worth some 6.5 billion US dollars to build infrastructure in South AfricaAs part of the deals, China will lend 500 million U.S. dollars to Eskom, South Africa's national power supplier, to help its operations.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will also sell 10 billion rand or 696 million U.S. dollars worth of bonds in South Africa, making it the first Asian issuer of rand-denominated debt.

China will also help to build a car manufacturing plant in South Africa. It should begin exporting vehicles to other African countries by the end of 2017.

On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in Johannesburg that the country will roll out 10 major programs to strengthen cooperation with Africa in the coming three years.

Meanwhile, China will offer 60 billion U.S. dollars to ensure smooth implementation of the initiatives.

+++++++++On Thursday, the ECB decided to lower the interest rate of its deposit facility by 10 basis points to minus 0.3 percent.

"The ECB's decisions help address increased downside risks to the recovery. Today's actions and its strong commitment to adjust the program if needed will help meet the price stability objective. The ECB should continue to strongly signal its willingness to act and use all the instruments available until its price stability mandate is met."Meanwhile, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged.

The central bank is expected to extend the asset purchase program until the end of March 2017 from September 2016.

In addition, the ECB is set to include euro-denominated marketable debt instruments in the public sector purchase program in the list of assets.

After the ECB announced its decision, both U.S. and European stock markets ended in negative territory on Friday.

Most Asian markets also saw losses at close of the same day.

++++++++++Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, along with world leaders, announced a plan to research and develop clean energy technology at the ongoing UN climate summit in Paris.

It's been reported that at least 19 governments and 28 leading world investors have signed up so far, including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Ma of China's Alibaba.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates introduced the 'Breakthrough Energy Coalition' to the press and public.

"We're launching the 'Breakthrough Energy Coalition'. It's a global private investment group that will take risks that will allow companies to get innovation out of the lab and into the marketplace, and will focus on early-stage companies that could scale up to major carbon solutions."Gates committed one billion US dollars of his money and has been described as the "intellectual architect" behind the effort to get investors involved.

At the same time, Chinese authorities are telling the operators of coal-fired power plants to upgrade technology, with a goal of cutting pollutant discharge by 60 percent before 2020.

The move is expected to save 100 million tons of raw coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 180 million tons annually.

The country aims to cut total coal consumption to below 65 percent of primary energy use by 2017.

+++++++++A subsidiary of Evergrande Real Estate Group has agreed to buy 4 assets from a unit of New World China Land, marking the biggest purchase in China's real estate business.

Evergrande said in a statement that the deal was worth 13.5 billion yuan or 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.

This is another investment by the third largest developer in China whose acquisitions have mounted to some 6 billion U.S. dollars in the past 6 months.

++++++++Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that he and his wife will give 99 percent of their Facebook shares to charity, as they announce the birth of their daughter Max.

The couple's holdings in the company are currently worth about 45 billion U.S. dollars.

It will be managed by a new organization known as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Meanwhile, Facebook said in a securities filing that Zuckerberg has planned to give away up to 1 billion dollars of Facebook stock each year for the next three years.

SportsLiang beats Fu to make semis at UK ChampionshipBeginning with snooker action,Only one Chinese player is left standing in the last four of the UK Championship.

Liang Wenbo edged out Marco Fu from Hong Kong 6-5 to make his first semi-final appearance at the Barbican Center.

Liang had three century breaks in the opening frames to go 3-0.

Fu saved three match points and battled back from 5-2 down to force Liang into the deciding frame.

Liang held it together and came through.

His next opponent is David Grace who is also a semi-final debutant.

In other action,The game between Neil Robertson and John Higgins also went to the decider. Robertson fended off Higgins' charge to win 6-5.

In the evening session,Mark Selby blitzed through Matthew Selt 6-1.

CBA/NBA resultsIn CBA action from last night,Xinjiang bounced back from their first and only loss of the season earlier this week, getting past the Beijing Ducks 97-91.

Beijing went down despite Randolph Morris knocking down 43 points and pulling in a dozen rebounds for the ducks.

Li Gen notched 27 points to make sure Xinjiang have double victories over his old team.

Xinjiang remain on top of the table with a 12-1 record.

The Ducks are now 7-6 on the season.

In more action,Guangdong extended their winning streak to 7 after rolling over Jiangsu Tongxi 122-98.

Yi Jianlian's 21 points made him only the 9th player in CBA history to score over 7-thousand points in the league.

The Zhejiang Lions had a 98-83 win over the Bayi Rockets.

Foshan put Liaoning's three-game winning streak to an end, beating them 103-99.

Beijing Beikong held off Tianjin 111-95.

And it was Jiangsu over Jilin 106-92.

Over in the NBA,The Knicks won their New York derby against the Nets 108-91,Washington edged Phoenix 109-106,Houston made it back to the Western Conference top eight with a 100-96 victory over Dallas.

Real Madrid thrown out of Copa Del ReyIn football,Real Madrid have been officially thrown out of the Copa Del Rey for fielding a suspended player in their 3-1 win against Cadiz.

The federation's committee judge ruled Denis Cheryshev ineligible and resolved the match in favor of Cadiz.

He also slapped Real with a fine of 6-thousand euros.

Cheryshev made the starting line-up and scored for Real while he should have sat out the game because he is still under a one-match ban.

More indictments for FIFA officials; presidential candidate calls for changeThe FIFA corruption scandal continues to fester in South America.

Guatemala's football federation president Brayan Jimenez has been indicted by the US Department of Justice and relieved of his duties.

Jimenez is one of three Guatemalan football officials named in the corruption investigations.

Jimenez announced earlier this week he would offer his cooperation to prove his innocence.

Jimenez's counterpart in Ecuador remains defiant under arrest and facing extradition.

Luis Chiriboga says he will not resign as head of Ecuador's football federation and will not be extradited.

His lawyer says he will attend a hearing where a judge will determine if he will remain detained.

As FIFA's reputation and credibility spiral down amid the investigations, presidential candidate Prince Ali of Jordan has called for a change of culture.

"I reject the notion that FIFA cannot be reformed from within. The crisis at FIFA is a crisis of leadership. External events are forcing changes on FIFA. But change would not be meaningful or sustainable without credible leadership that embraces transparency, accountability, and the principles of good governance."Prince Ali also says in he becomes president, he will not strip Qatar and Russia of their World Cup hosting rights.

Both World Cups have been thrown into doubt over the possibility of bribery tainting the bidding process.

Golf updateIn golf:

World number 1 Jordan Spieth finds himself in a 3-way tie for the lead after round 2 of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Spieth, along with fellow Americans Bill Haas and Jimmy Walker, currently sit tied at 11-under heading into the weekend.

Elsewhere,Henrik Stenson carded 5 birdies on his back nine to shoot a 5-under 67 and take a one-stroke lead at 11-under after the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

"so to be leading after two days, it's a bit of a turnaround to say the least and yeah, you go out and beware of the injured golfer, sick golfer, I guess. I mean, you've got no expectations and you just try and hit one shot at a time and make your way round and yeah, I've done pretty well so far."Overnight leader and local favorite Jaco van Zyl, who started the 2nd round tied for the lead with Stenson, is tied for 2nd at 10-under.

On the women's side,Beijing native Feng Simin has a share of the lead heading into the final round of this year's LPGA Q-School in Florida.

20-year old Feng and a South Korean golfer are tied for the lead at 11-under.

As long as Feng stays in the top 20 at the tournament, she will automatically qualify to be on the LPGA next year.

FIA award ceremony held in ParisIn motorsports:

Drivers received their annual awards at a ceremony held in Paris by the world's motosports governing body FIA.

Formula one champion Lewis Hamilton picked up his award and thanked his Mercedes team for helping him achieve a third world championship.

"It's been an incredible two years, or three years actually with this team. So, to be standing up here for the second year in a row, I'm very, very proud. And it's also great to see all these.... congratulations to all the other champions who are here this evening. As I said, I know it's been a long night. I hope everyone is going to drink lots of the free wine from tonight and yeah, all the best for next year."Mercedes boss Toto Wolff accepted the trophy for constructors' championship on behalf of the team.

Sebastian Ogier and Mark Webber both received their awards for the World Rally and World Edurance Championship.

Entertainment'The Martian' Tops China's Box OfficesAmerican science fiction film 'The Martian' has topped China's box office for the last week, by pulling in 310 million yuan, or some 48.5 million U.S. dollars since its opening on November 25th.

Directed by Ridley Scott, the film stars Matt Damon and Sebastian Stan.

Faithfully adapted from Andy Weir's 2011 namesake novel, the film portrays Astronaut Mark Watney, who finds himself stranded and alone on Mars.

Meanwhile, 'Our Times', a romantic comedy from Taiwan, has earned 148 million yuan, continues to sit in the second place during the week.

Opened in November 19th, the film is regarded as the highest-grossing film from Taiwan to be released on the mainland.

The third place goes to the crime thriller 'The Transporter Refueled', which has earned 47 million yuan in the week, since its opening on November 20th.

Domestic action film 'The Vanished Murderer' landed in fourth with 40 million yuan in the week.

Rounding out the top five was the new James Bond film 'Spectre' with only 38.6 million yuan during the week, having lost a bit of its shine after ruling in the previous two weeks.

Actor Hu Ge Plans to Take A Leave from Entertainment IndustryChinese actor Hu Ge has revealed that he plans to take a leave from the Entertainment Industry for a while.

Rising to fame by playing Li Xiaoyao in hit TV series 'Chinese Paladin' some ten years ago, the 33-year-old re-captured public craze by starring in the immensely popular drama, 'Nirvana in Fire'.

Based on author Hai Yan's popular Internet novel of the same name, 'Nirvana in Fire' tells a tale of revenge and political struggles among the princes of an ancient Chinese kingdom.

As this drama has enjoyed popularity both at home and abroad, many thought the actor would make his next move soon while his career is still hot.

But the actor says he hopes to have some time to settle down for a while.

This past year alone, Hu Ge starred in three TV dramas, including Nirvana in Fire, The Disguiser, and Good Time.

In addition, he has two other dramas slated for release next year, so maybe a period of rest appears to be in order.

Last month, Hu Ge was honored the "Asian Special Contribution Award" in Japan for two of his TV dramas "Inspiration in Life" in 2014, and "Good Time" in 2015.

Adele Continues to Dominate UK ChartsBritish singer Adele has continued to dominate the UK charts, as her latest album '25' eyes another bumper sales week.

Being the Oscar-winning singer's third studio album, '25' keeps breaking records as it enjoyed a further 439,000 copies sales this week, which has sold more than rest top 10 combined.

The album has now surpassed Ed Sheeran's 'X', regarded as the fastest million-selling album in the UK chart history.

Besides achievements in album sales, the 27-year-old singer also announced that she will add eight more dates to her European tour, to meet her fans' demand.

According to Yahoo's report, the tickets for her upcoming gigs in British cities, including London and Belfast, sold out within minutes as soon as they went on sale.

In the UK's Singles Chart, Justin Bieber remains at the top, with his third number one single 'Love Yourself'.

This results help the Canadian pop star to break a 52-year record previously held by The Beatles, with their hits 'She Loves You' and 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.

Usher to Share His Philosophy on MasterclassAfter mentoring people for a number of years, US R'n'B artist Usher has decided to make his philosophy available to everyone by launching a performance masterclass through his namesake online platform.

"I do this behind closed doors and in studios all around the world without an audience there and with artists. Now I'm making it available for the world, I'm making it available for any person who has that spark. I can't promise you that you will watch this and become a success overnight, because anything that's overnight isn't really a success."The 37-year-old singer further indicated his methods for becoming a professional entertainer can be applied to any field because they have to do with discipline, confidence and an inner process.

"It's trial and error. Those little mantras, I create all these little sayings and mantras that you can carry with you throughout the process, when you find something that is reminiscent to where you are in your life you begin to then understand, 'Oh wow I'm on the track. I'm in the right direction, I'm moving. "Usher is joining successful celebrities like Serena Williams and Dustin Hoffman, whose classes are currently available on Masterclass.com.

Masterclass is an online education company that creates classes with the best teachers in the world.

That's it for this weekend edition of the Beijing Hour.

A quick look at the headlines before we go...

Chinese President Xi Jinping putting forward a 5-point proposal on further deepening win-win cooperation between China and Africa.

A new round of talks between Chinese and Japanese officials connected to maritime issues set to take place next week...

And a US official says it is unlikely that the San Bernardino shooting involved a larger extremist network....

On behalf of the CRI News team, this is Spencer Musick in Beijing. Join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour. Let’s open a window to the world together.