| The Beijing Hour
Evening Edition
It's Shane Bigham with you on this Saturday, April 11th, 2015.
Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
Coming up on the program this evening...
The premier is encouraging the top Chinese railway companies to pursue global markets with quality products and superior after-sales services...
Three more founding members have been approved for the Asian Infrastructure investment bank, including South Korea and two countries from Europe...
And the US and Cuban leaders have shaken hands during an historic meeting in Panama...
In our weekly Biz review: stimulus for the Chinese economy, smartphones, and the new Apple Watch...
In sports: tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai...
In entertainment: casting for a Harry Potter spinoff...
Top News
Premier Li Encourages China's High Speed Rail Go Global with High Quality
The Chinese Premier is encouraging the country's top rail makers to offer high quality products and good after-sales services to global markets.
Li Keqiang made the comment while paying a visit to a subsidiary of China North Railway Co in Changchun.
"You are not only supposed to provide equipment for domestic railway; we also expect you to go global. You represent the image of Chinese manufacturers. Our equipment should be of good quality, reasonably priced, and you should provide good service on the international market. You are not only responsible to this company, but also to the country."
China North Railway and China South Railway announced merger plans at the end of last year.
Premier Li says the merged company should be built into a world-leading manufacturing corporation.
"This combined fleet includes not only CNR and CSR but also all of their research and development bases and colleges. You need to coordinate well, shoulder your responsibilities, and support each other, as well as carry out competition with each other. This combined fleet shall be top notch in manufacturing, research and development, and also in training talent."
According to the merger plan, much emphasis will be put on gaining access to foreign markets.
The two companies signed overseas contracts with combined worth over 6 billion US dollars last year.
Spain, ROK, Austria join AIIB as founding members
Spain, South Korea, and Austria have been approved as prospective founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
With the three added, the bank now has a total of 41 prospective founders.
Founding members have the right to make rules for the bank, while countries that applied to join after March 31 deadline will be ordinary members with voting rights only.
The founder membership will be finalized on April 15.
The bank, initiated by China, aims to provide financing for roads, railways, airports, and other infrastructure projects in Asia.
It is expected to be established by the end of this year.
Obama and Castro Shake Hands
U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro shook hands for the first time since the two sides announced in December the re-establishment of diplomatic relations.
The two leaders are participating in the Seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama. This is the first meeting since the inaugural Summit that has included Cuba, as the island nation used to be excluded due to US opposition.
On the streets of Havana, Cubans welcomed the symbolically charged gesture between Castro and Obama.
"I think that it is the best thing that could have happened for them to restore relations between the two of them; that's what I think, that it should have happened earlier."
"It would be almost perfect, to strengthen those ties. For so many years, we've had that embargo that has stopped us on everything."
The two leaders spoke by phone on Wednesday before Obama left Washington.
Before that, the United States and Cuba held three rounds of talks on the process of restoring diplomatic relations and the re-opening of embassies.
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held a closed-meeting Thursday night in Panama City, which was the highest-level meeting between the two sides since 1961.
SCO Regional Anti-terrorist Structure meeting held in Tashkent
Representatives from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have sat down in Uzbekistan to discuss terrorism.
During the meeting, member countries have endorsed a draft cooperative program on combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism.
They have also signed an agreement to formulate legal documents for organizing joint exercises against cyber-terrorism activities.
The SCO, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, accounts for 60 percent of Eurasia's land mass and a quarter of the world's population.
"Fox Hunt" Operation Nabs New Fugitive
China's transnational "Fox Hunt" operation has nabbed another fugitive suspected of economic crimes.
31-year-old Liu Mouping returned to China from Indonesia and surrendered himself to the police at Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport on Thursday.
Liu has been accused of raising public funds illegally and not paying workers' wages. Liu and his wife fled to Indonesia in September.
Yin Zhong is the officer in charge of the case.
"After investigation, we found that Liu had raised more than 30 million yuan illegally from more than 20 residents. He also defaulted on wages of more than 100 workers, with a total amount of over 800,000 yuan,"
Police officers contacted Liu after they found his address in Indonesia, and they convinced him to come back.
"I really felt a lot of pressure and don't know what to do, as things have developed into such a situation today. I surrendered because I think I should be responsible for what I have done to my family and to society. I want to clear the mess up."
The "Fox Hunt" Operation is aimed at catching corrupt officials and fraudsters who have fled China. In the second half of last year, the operation escorted 680 of those suspected of economic crimes back to China from 69 countries and regions.
Kunming Party chief fired over graft probe
The Party chief in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, has been fired on suspicion of corruption.
The sacking comes just eight months after Gao Jinsong's predecessor was fired for the same reason.
The Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China announced Gao's firing following an announcement from China's top anti-graft agency that it was investigating Gao for serious violations of party discipline and law.
Gao had replaced the previously-fired Zhang Tianxin last August.
New Environmental Protection Law Shows its Teeth
China's environmental watchdog has imposed tougher penalties and larger fines on companies and individuals following the introduction of the revised environmental protection law in January.
The new legislation allows environmental protection agencies to impose fines on a daily basis as long as problems remain.
It also gives environmental protection authorities the power to close down polluting companies and seal off their facilities.
Experts describe the measures as the "teeth" of the revised anti-pollution law.
Chang Jiwen is the deputy director of the Research Institute of Resources and Environmental Policies at the State Council Development Research Center.
"The new environmental protection law has added claws to the usually weak enforcement efforts. The Ministry of Environmental Protection this week halted the Xiaonanhai hydropower project. It shows that the government is getting tough on enforcing the revised environmental legislation."
As a result, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has collected roughly 12.3 million yuan or nearly 2 million U.S. dollars in fines from big polluters in the first two months after the new legislation took effect.
It has also handled hundreds of other cases that saw polluters' production halted, suspects detained or their property seized.
Hong Kong Chief Says Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect Brings Multiple Benefits
Hong Kong Chief executive CY Leung says Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect will be a triple win for Hong Kong, Shanghai, and the whole country.
He made the remarks at an economic and trade cooperation meeting in Shanghai on Friday.
"The most obvious example we have noticed recently is that the stock markets of the two cities are quite active, following the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect launch on November 17 last year, as investors can buy listed stocks on both exchanges. During this process, we may say Hong Kong is playing its role in internationalizing the RMB."
Hong Kong's stock market has been boosted this week by a continued influx of funds from the mainland through the Stock Connect scheme.
Daily trading quotas from Shanghai to Hong Kong were fully used up on Wednesday and Thursday.
The benchmark Hang Seng index jumped nearly 8 percent this week, marking its highest gains in seven years.
Anhui's affected crop not super-hybrid rice: Agriculture Ministry
Anchor:
China's agricultural authority says the massive crop failure in Anhui province does not involve a super-hybrid strain of rice.
The comment follows word that disease has struck a strain that was developed by China's "father of hybrid rice," Yuan Longping.
CRI's Luo Wen has more.
Reporter:
China's Ministry of Agriculture says Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture has not applied for the ministry's super-hybrid rice assessment for the strain in Anhui that's failed.
China started to cultivate super high-yield hybrid-rice in the 1990s in a bid to feed 20 percent of the world population with only seven percent of its arable lands.
Rice blast, a deadly disease affecting cultivated rice, has hit more than 650 hectare of rice fields in Anhui, a major rice producer in East China.
Wang Peijie is a local farmer.
"This year, I only managed to harvest a few bags of rice from 38 mu of fields. The best I can get is about 50 kilograms from 1 mu. It is almost like nothing."
In some villages, the affected strain, "Liangyou 0293," accounts for 90 percent of the rice cultivated in the fields.
Local farmers are blaming misleading advertisements for their losses.
It is reported that on the package of the seeds, the ad claims the strain has only a 25 percent of chance disease, but inside the package, the instructions suggest the possibility is as high as 100 percent.
Peng Guangjian, the executive president of Yong Longping Agriculture, says the company has already started the compensation process and will provide free seeds to affected farmers.
Peng blames poor weather conditions for the disease problem.
"The good things about the 0293 strain is that it has good lodging resistance and can deliver high yield. But the weak point is that it can be affected by rice blast. So the national authorities have approved to grow the rice in areas where is unlikely to see a rice blast outbreaks. The affected cities are one of those areas. But since last year, constant rains and low temperatures have been hitting the regions, which caused the outbreak."
Currently there is no effective way to prevent rice blast.
Local authorities in Anhui have already submitted a request to the Ministry of Agriculture, demanding the ministry reevaluate the cultivation areas of the 0293 strain and to exclude Anhui.
Yuan Longping, an academic from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, developed the world's first hybrid rice in 1974.
Last year, a team led by Yuan achieved a record for hybrid rice production with an average yield surpassing 1,000 kilograms per mu.
Super hybrid rice now accounts for around 30% of the country's overall rice cultivation.
For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.
HIV-infected Students on the Rise in China
The latest stats show that the number of students who tested positive for HIV has increased at an alarming rate in China in recent years.
According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, young people between the age of 15 and 24 made up around 15 percent of new HIV carriers and AIDS patients in China last year.
Despite the relatively small percentage, the number of HIV-positive students has risen more quickly than other age groups.
Yu Jingjin is the director of China's disease control and prevention bureau.
"In 2008 there were 482 students who tested positive for the HIV virus. That's 5.77 percent of all those infected between the ages of 15 and 24. Last year, the proportion of students rose to almost 17 percent."
At the end of last year, there were about 36-thousand young people living with the HIV virus or AIDS, 20 percent of them are students.
Sexual transmission has emerged as a major cause of new infections among students.
Males having unprotected sex with other males accounted for nearly 82 percent of new cases last year compared with 59 percent in 2008.
The health commission is calling on schools to include AIDS prevention education in the curriculum to help raise awareness of the disease among students.
Chinese authority denies full implementation of "two-child policy" in May
Anchor:
Health authorities here in China are denying widespread rumors a "two-child policy" will be rolled out in May to allow all couples to have a second child.
CRI's Yu Yang has more details.
Reporter:
Song Shuli is a National Health and Family Planning Commission spokesperson:
"This speculation is without foundation. The family planning strategy should be maintained, as the size of the population puts pressure on resources, the environment, as well as economic and social development. Authorities are still assessing the implementation of the new birth policy, to prepare changes to the family planning regulation. The initial relaxation is not the end, policy reform will continue."
The one child policy has been relaxed since late 2013, allowing couples to have a second child if at least one parent has no siblings.
The relaxation in part aims to address the issues of the strength of the labor force and the aging population.
Song Shuli adds that local authorities will make adjustments to their family planning policies based on their own demographic structure.
In the meantime, the National Health and Family Planning Commission says a special operation is set to be carried out nationwide to crack down on surrogate pregnancies, which is illegal in the country.
Song Shuli says a long-term mechanism is going to be established.
"According to our plan, the first phase of the operation will last from now until the end of this year. A long-term mechanism to crack down on surrogacy is also going to be established."
This move will focus its investigations on those medical institutes and medical staff, as well as social intermediary organizations that engage in surrogacy.
For CRI, I'm Yu Yang.
China-World Parkinson's Day
Health experts in China are trying to raise public awareness of Parkinson's Disease, as the country's population ages.
Li Yongjie is a neurosurgeon from Beijing Xuanwu Hospital.
"The morbidity is about 0.1 percent of the whole population. But it usually happens on older people. The older one gets, the more chances one has the disease."
Li gave the warning just ahead of today's World Parkinson's Disease Day.
New surveys show almost half of worldwide Parkinson's Disease patients are Chinese.
China now has about 1.7 million Parkinson's patients. For people over 65, about 1.7 percent suffer from the disease and up to 100,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.
The World Health Organization predicts China will have five million Parkinson's patients in 2030.
The average age of onset of the disease is 55.
Main symptoms include tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement. Most patients can hardly walk properly or keep balance.
Sina faces suspension over lack of censorship
Chinese authorities have threatened to suspend web giant Sina's news services if the company fails to improve censorship of illegal content.
The Cyberspace Administration of China summoned leaders of the company to a meeting on Friday over "massive numbers of public complaints about its law violations."
Authorities say more than six thousand complaints about the Chinese company have been received since the start of the year, more than any other web portal.
Complaints relate to allegations of rumours, violence, terrorism, pornography, and other illegal activities.
Sina's leaders promised they will intensify censorship and publish more information with "positive energy".
Clinton to Launch 2016 Presidential Campaign
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to launch her long-anticipated 2016 presidential campaign on Sunday.
Clinton is scheduled to make her second bid for the presidency after months of speculation about her political future.
If elected, Clinton would be the United States' first female president.
Leonard Steinhorn, Political Science Professor at American University, says the prospect of serving as the first female president of the US can be an advantage for Hillary's election.
"She has been through almost every version of what one can expect of somebody in public life. She's taken hits, she's had incredible successes, she's admired, she's feared and now is really that final act as to whether she can expand her voice, experience and the lessons she's learned to the larger American public."
But not everyone is optimistic for Clinton's presidential campaign.
Julie Pace, White House Correspondent for the Associated Press.
"She does come with a lot of liabilities. The first is that she is just someone who has been in the public eye for so long. Americans tend to want someone new and different and there is just no way can that she completely fulfill that for people. The other problem with the Clintons is that they just come with a lot of their own baggage, more so than most people who have been in political life. We saw this with the email controversy. It harkins back to questions about secrecy, transparency with the Clintons."
Clinton had earlier been criticized for the use of a personal email account and server during her tenure as US Secretary of State, and the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of donations from foreign governments.
Clinton will officially announce her bid for the Democratic Party's nomination through an online video to be published on social media this Sunday.
Nigerian Military Making Efforts to Oust Boko Haram
The Nigerian military is making efforts to oust Boko Haram from towns the extremists have held for months in Northern Nigeria, aiming to dislodge the militants in a matter or weeks.
Oladayo Amao with the Nigerian Air Force is the Commander of Air Operations,
"The air strikes have been very, very effective on the insurgents. We have assisted the advancing troops, our troops, we've given them close air support and we have coordinated armed recces along their axes of advance. Of course they have met stiff opposition from the Boko Haram and most of the time we have assisted in eliminating those oppositions."
Military chiefs express optimism that Boko Haram can be ousted, with help from multinational troops from neighbours Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Major General Chris Olukolade is spokesman for the Nigerian Ministry of Defence
"The tempo (of the operation) has assured us that the mission of clearing terrorists from Nigeria will be achieved, not just the tempo, the commitment of the troops, the morale, the effectiveness of the weapons that have been deployed has been a source of assurance that that will be achieved."
Although military officials boasted that they have ousted Boko Haram extremists from all major towns and forest camps in a large area of northern Nigeria, at least 24 people were killed by the group in northeastern Nigeria on April 6, dozens of other injured.
Nigerians have expressed disappointment by the failure of the Nigerian Government and military to protect civilians.
In the past 6 years, thousands of people have been killed and more than 1.5 million forced to flee from their homes, as Boko Haram is allegedly fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
Additionally, nearly 300 school girls were abducted by Boko Haram last year, which caused international outrage.
Nigerian voters booted President Goodluck Jonathan out of office on March 28. They hope President-elect Muhammadu Buhari can fulfill his campaign pledge to stamp out Boko Haram.
Buhari was elected in a vote that most observers say was relatively free of major interference to the process.
Nigerians hope the former military strongman will bring the country both security and prosperity. He will take office on May 29.
Russian man volunteers for first human head transplant
Anchor:
A 30-year-old Russian computer scientist with a rare muscle wasting disease has volunteered to become the first person in the world to undergoe a head transplant.
Earlier this year, a controversial Italian surgeon outlined the transplant technique in an academic journal, saying the procedure will be possible within the next two years.
CRI's Guo Yan has more.
Reporter:
Valery Spiridonov says he wants the chance of a new body before he dies.
The 30-year-old was diagnosed with the rare genetic muscle-wasting condition Werdnig-Hoffman disease at the age of one.
He says he does not have many choices as his condition is getting worse each year.
Spiridonov contacted the doctor, Sergio Canavero who is based at the University of Turin in Italy, after reading about his controversial plan two years ago.
"I'm very interested in technology, and anything progressive that might change people's lives for the better. Doing this is not only an excellent opportunity for me, but will also create a scientific basis for future generations. No matter what the actual outcome of the surgery is. "
According to Canavero's plan, the new body will come from a transplant donor who is brain dead but otherwise healthy.
Both donor and patient will have their heads severed from their spinal cords at the same time, using an ultra-sharp blade to give a clean cut.
The patient's head will then be placed onto the donor's body and attached by using a "glue" called polyethylene glycol to fuse the two ends of the spinal cord together.
The muscles and blood supply will be stitched up, and the patient will be put into a coma for four weeks while the head and body heal together.
Critics say Canavero has simplified the difficulties involved in reattaching a spinal cord.
Some medical experts also point out the problem that no one will know what the transplant will do to the patient's psyche and other ethical issues.
But Canavero claims he is confident to make the transplant work.
"I have been just working on this project for the past thirty years. Then I am pretty sure that the project can be carried out right now, and we have the technology."
It is estimated that the operation will take 36 hours and cost over 10 million US dollars.
150 doctors and nurses are needed to complete the operation.
In 1970, the first head transplant was performed on a monkey.
The monkey died after eight days because the body rejected the head.
The animal could not move as the spinal cords were not connected.
For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.
WHO: Risks of Ebola Spreading Internationally appear to be Diminishing
The World Health Organization says that West Africa's Ebola epidemic still poses a threat to other countries, but that the risk of it spreading internationally appears to be diminishing.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, WHO Special Representative for the international Ebola Response:
"Ebola is very much a local disease and a disease of people and individuals and it is only when you really get down to the level of the individual that you really are on track for getting this thing eventually stopped."
Thirty confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in the past week, the smallest number in nearly a year.
Liberia reported no new cases in the week to April 5, Sierra Leone reported nine and Guinea 21.
Dr. Aylward also says countries are very much on track in terms of operations and ability ahead of the rainy season, which is probably a month away.
But he also suggests that some inappropriate health measures are being implemented by some countries that go beyond the temporary recommendations.
"These include such things as quarantine of returning travellers, refusal of entry of travellers from such countries, cancellation of flights and border closures and there was a pretty strong call from the committee that countries do not put in place any measures, or remove any measures that go beyond the temporary recommendation."
The UN agency declared last August that the world's worst Ebola outbreak, which began in December 2013, represented a public health emergency of international concern that forced all health officials to shore up defenses.
Weather
Beijing has light rain to moderate rain tonight with a low of 5, tomorrow light rain with a high of 11.
Shanghai is cloudy tonight with a low of 11, tomorrow, overcast, high of 20.
Chongqing is cloudy tonight, 15 degrees the lowest, tomorrow, sunny, high of 26.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia,
Islamabad, sunny tomorrow with a high of 37.
Kabul, sunny, 24.
Over in Australia
Sydney, scattered showers, high of 21,
Canberra, overcast, 21,
Brisbane, partly cloudy, 29,
Finally Perth will have scattered showers with a high of 21 degrees Celsius.
Headline news
Spain, ROK, Austria join AIIB as founding members
Spain, South Korea, and Austria have been approved as prospective founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
With the three added, the bank now has a total of 41 prospective founders.
Founding members have the right to make rules for the bank, while countries that applied to join after March 31 deadline will be ordinary members with voting rights only.
The founder membership will be finalized on April 15.
SCO Regional Anti-terrorist Structure meeting held in Tashkent
Representatives from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have sat down in Uzbekistan to discuss terrorism.
During the meeting, member countries have endorsed a draft cooperative program on combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism.
They have also signed an agreement to formulate legal documents for organizing joint exercises against cyber-terrorism activities.
The SCO, which groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, accounts for 60 percent of Eurasia's land mass and a quarter of the world's population.
U.S., Cuban presidents shake hands at historic American Summit
Leaders of the United States and Cuba have shaken hands in a highly symbolic exchange of greetings at a historic Summit of the Americas.
The face-to-face interaction between President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro came after the two sides began their rapprochement in December.
This is the first time that a Cuban leader has been invited to attend the regional gathering since the first summit in 1994.
Cuba was shut out of the past summits due to U.S. opposition.
The US State Department has completed the review of Cuba's status and recommended the White House remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List.
Obama has vowed to act quickly once he receives the department's recommendation.
Egypt's MB Chief Sentenced to Death over Violence Charges
An Egyptian court has delivered a death sentence to the chief leader of the Muslim Brotherhood group, Mohammed Badie, and 13 other group members.
The 14 defendants were convicted of running an operational room to mobilize group members to target security forces and spread disorder after the dispersal of two major sit-ins in Cairo in 2013.
37 other group members have received life imprisonment terms.
Since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi two years ago, the Egyptian government has launched a massive security crackdown on his supporters, leaving more than 1,000 killed and thousands others arrested.
Many figures of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death. However, the sentences have not been carried out and can be appealed.
20 Syrian soldiers killed defending airbase against IS attack
Syrian soldiers have repelled an attack by Islamic State militants on an airbase, but 20 government troops have been killed.
The attack happened in southern Syria, in an area that's been relatively peaceful during the four-year Syrian civil war.
Among the soldiers killed are 12 members of the Palestinian Liberation Army, a brigade in the Syrian military comprised of Palestinian refugees.
Officials say 15 militants were killed and the airbase remains under government control.
Weekly Biz Roundup
Weekly Business Review
Anchor:
Now it's time for our Weekly Business Review.
Last week, China's cabinet unveiled a series of measures to stimulate the country's economy. But at the same time, stabilizing consumer inflation and narrowed producer deflation in March indicate that the world's second largest economy may need further loosening measures. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi promoted sales of its devices in India. And Preorders for the new Apple Watch kicked off.
CRI's Wenjie has more details.
Reporter:
On Wednesday, the Chinese government announced a package of relief measures to stimulate businesses and prop up the country's real economy.
The State Council decided to cut industrial electricity prices and resource taxes on iron ore as well as eliminate "capricious" official fees for firms.
The price of power consumption for industrial and commercial purposes is cut by about 1.8 yuan or around 30 cents per 100 kWh.
The State Council also agreed to launch a six-month campaign to eliminate unreasonable administrative fees that force enterprises to pay for approvals, guild memberships and market access.
At the same time, the resource tax on iron ore will be reduced from 80 percent of the tax payment base to 40 percent.
It aims to help iron ore smelters that have suffered from sluggish prices and production since last year.
Also on Wednesday, the Chinese government launched a complaint with the WTO in a dispute with the European Union over poultry quotas.
At issue is a treaty the EU has with Brazil and Thailand.
The treaty gives those two countries some 96-percent of the quota for low-tariff imports of poultry meat.
China's argument with the WTO is the treaty discriminates against Chinese poultry products by imposing a higher tariff.
Chen Fuli is with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce legal department.
"In 2014 alone, Chinese poultry exports to the European Union hit 133-million US dollars. Nearly all of these failed to receive the EU's low tariffs, as Brazil and Thailand have the largest allocation under their existing treaty. I have been told by poultry exporters that the export value of their poultry products could double if we can undo the EU's quota assignments."
The EU's treaty with Brazil and Thailand has been in-place since March of 2013.
Statistics released on Friday shows China's consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, gained 1.4 percent year on year in March.
The increase in the CPI is the same as in February. The 0.8-percent gain in January had been the lowest level in more than five years.
Meanwhile, producer prices slid 4.6 percent year on year last month.
It is the 37th consecutive month of declines.
Experts say the risk of broad-based deflation in China has abated as prices for consumer products rose at the same pace as in February, while declines in costs at the factory gate stabilized.
Official figures released by China's foreign exchange regulator on Tuesday shows the country's outstanding external debt came in at nearly 900-billion US dollars at the end of last year.
This is up 2.5-percent from a year earlier.
Of the total outstanding debt, short-term external debt, due within a year, makes up just over two-thirds of China's overall debt-load.
Medium- and long-term debt makes up the rest.
Despite the increase, China's forex regulator insists the country's external debt risk remains within control.
John Ross, Senior fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University, says the assumption is based on two points:
…
On Wednesday, China's foreign exchange regulator released new rules to relax foreign exchange controls for foreign-invested companies.
Starting in June, foreign-invested companies won't have to get pre-approval before settling their bills with foreign currency.
They will be also allowed to convert up to 100 percent of their registered foreign-currency capital into yuan based on their business needs.
But at the same time, regulators say foreign businesses won't be able to invest that money into the markets or use it to provide or pay-off loans.
CRI financial commentator, Cao Can, says the changes will help facilitate foreign-funded firms' business transaction by cutting the red tape.
…
Chinese stocks advanced to fresh seven-year highs on Wednesday boosted by ample liquidity and confidence in the economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed above 4-thousand points on the day, a key benchmark, for the first time since early 2008.
The market rally comes as the central bank has cut benchmark interest rates twice and banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR) once since November.
The bullish market also stems from confidence in the Chinese economy as reforms to state-owned enterprises and the financial sector speed up.
In corporate news,
The merger of China Power Investment and the State Nuclear Power Technology has begun this week.
The two companies are coming together to form a new company, to be dubbed "State Power Investment."
Mike Bastin, Director of The China Business Centre based in London, says the new company has great potential to become a more competitive player in the global nuclear power industry.
Details of the executive management structure have yet to be revealed.
It's being reported that the President of State Nuclear Power, Wang Binghua, is likely to chair the new company.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Wednesday announced that it has sealed deals with Snapdeal and Amazon to sell its products on their platforms.
The announcement came after Xiaomi ended its exclusive partnership with Flipkart, another leading e-commerce site in India.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi also decided to sell its products through 800 outlets of a leading electronics retail chain in India, the Mobile Store, and shops of an Indian carrier Airtel.
Since the company launched operations in India last year, its devices have enjoyed growing popularity, especially among the younger generations.
Manu Jain is the head of Xiaomi's India operation:
"If you look at the first set of consumers who bought these devices, they were all youngsters, people in the age group of 18, 20 till about 30. A lot of them were either students or first time jobbers and they were hugely online tech-savvy. We did not do any marketing, any brand campaign. But just by reading online blogs, they knew that these are really high-end, high-spec devices."
Xiaomi also voiced plans to start manufacturing in India to meet the huge demand.
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba announced on Thursday that its affiliate Ant Financial will launch its online bank called MYbank in June.
Ant Financial will hold a 30 percent stake in MYbank.
Other shareholders of the bank include subsidiaries of Fosun International and Wanxiang Group, as well as Ningbo Jinrun Asset Management.
Pre-orders for Apple's first smart watch began on Friday.
On the same day, Apple's new MacBook laptop went on sale in its online store.
The new Apple Watch is priced higher in the Chinese mainland market than in the US.
The Apple Watch sport will sell at a little below 3-thousand yuan or 479 US dollars.
The high-end "Edition" watch with 18-karat gold alloy is priced at 145-thousand yuan or over 23-thousand US dollars.
The new Apple Watch will officially go on sale on April 24.
And that's the weekly business review, I'm Wenjie.
Sports
F1:Lewis Hamilton Claims Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix.
It is the Englishman's third successive pole position of the season.
Following Hamilton is his teammate Nico Rosberg.
Former world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull, who won the Malaysia leg, will start in third.
Getting his fifth pole in Shanghai, Hamilton says China has continued to be a good circuit for him.
"China has continued to be a good circuit for me and very very good positive vibe here. The team has done a fantastic work here this weekend, a little bit better, well, lot better than, compared as a whole weekend, compared to how it was in Malaysia. At the end of the day, the team is just continue to do an amazing job. We've kind of regroup after the last week, and bring some improvement to this weekend, I'm very very grateful for that."
By winning the race tomorrow, Hamilton will become the first to defend the China Grand Prix title.
Chinese Super League Soccer Fixtures
In China Super League,
The China Super League has 8 games scheduled for this weekend.
Right now, Guizhou Renhe is playing Tianjin Teda.
Shijiazhuang Ever Bright is playing Shanghai Shenxin.
And in just a few minutes, Shanghai Greenland will take on Chongqing Lifan.
Playing on Sunday:
Changchun Yatai will play Jiangsu Sainty.
Shanghai SIPG will play Beijing Guoan.
Shandong Luneng will play Guangzhou R&F.
Guangzhou Evergrande will play Liaoning Whowin
And it's Hangzhou Greentown taking on Henan Jianye on Monday.
Duncan Lifts Spurs to 104-103 Win over Rockets
Over to basketball,
Tim Duncan had 29 points and blocked a James Harden layup attempt with 2.9 seconds left to help the San Antonio Spurs narrowly edge the Houston Rockets 104-103 this morning.
This marks the tenth consecutive win for the Spurs.
San Antonio has now jumped into third spot in the Western Conference while Houston dropped from third to sixth.
In other action,
The Toronto Raptorsbeat the Orlando Magic 101-99.
The Hornets fell to the Hawks 104-80.
The Wizards went down to The Nets 117-80.
The Celtics beat the Cavaliers 99-90.
The Pacers upset the Pistons 107-103.
The Bucks held off the Knicks 99-91.
The Suns lost to the Pelicans 90-75.
The Thunder thumped the Kings 116-103.
The Mavericks beat the Nuggets 144-143.
The Grizzlies beat the Jazz 89-88.
And the Lakers earned a rare win this season, downing the Timberwolves 106-98.
Madison Keys and Lucie Hradecka Cruise into Semis in Charleston
In tennis,
Rising star Madison Keys became the first player to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Family Circle Cup on Friday, defeating the up-and-coming Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-2 in an all-American clash.
It took her only 73 minutes to win the match over Davis, who had stunned top-seeded Canadian star Eugenie Bouchard in straight sets on Wednesday.
Awaiting her in the semis is Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka.
The semi-final match up marks the first time that they have played each other.
To date, none of the players remaining in the draw are ranked in the top 10 in the world.
Moving to the Katowice Open,
Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska cruised into the semifinals of this tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic.
Meanwhile, second-seeded Alize Cornet, the defending champion, was ousted by eighth-seeded Anna Schmiedlova 6-2, 6-0.
Radwanska will face third-seeded Camila Giorgi of Italy in Saturday's semifinals.
On the men's side,
Defending Champion Fernando Verdasco blew away Teymuraz Gabashvili 6-2, 6-3 on Friday to reach the semifinals in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
Verdasco will meet Sam Querrey of the United States, who beat top seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-1 in the late match.
Marc Marquez Tops Field in MotoGP Practice
Double world-MotoGP-champion Marc Marquez set the fastest time in a free practice ahead of the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Friday.
The 22-year-old completed his best lap in less than two minutes and five seconds in the second free practice session, which took place on a dry track in sunny conditions.
Marquez said he is confident going into Sunday's race.
"Well, of course, two different sessions, but we're positive because Sunday we don't know yet which weather we will have, so we ride on rain and it was good, the feeling was good, of course on rain conditions there is always a question mark because you never know, but on dry conditions I feel well."
Marquez was about three-tenths of a second quicker than Britain's Cal Crutchlow, who is riding with a new chassis and seat set-up.
Italy's Andrea Iannone finished third.
Sir Bradley Wiggins to Retire after Paris-Roubaix
In Cycling,
Sir Bradley Wiggins is set to make his final appearance for Team Sky in Sunday's Paris-Roubaix.
The 2012 Tour de France winner and Olympic gold medalist said at a news conference that he is trying not to think about his position too much because it's becoming negative.
Wiggins is in the process of launching his own track and road cycling team.
Entertainment
Eddy Redmayne the frontrunner to star in Harry Potter spinoff
British actor Eddy Redmayne has been selected as the favorite to play Newt Scamander in Warner Brothers' highly anticipated "Harry Potter" spinoff "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
And J.K. Rowling will be making her screenwriting debut on the trilogy.
Set in New York roughly seven decades before Harry Potter's saga starts, "Fantastic Beasts" is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name and follows the adventures of its author, Newt Scamander.
Redmayne has just won an Oscar for his performance in "The Theory of Everything," playing Stephen Hawking.
Though he hasn't yet received the official offer, as director David Yates is said to be considering a few other actors for the part, according to sources, he is the frontrunner.
The first "Fantastic Beasts" movie is scheduled to arrive in November 2016.
Cartoon Marilyn Monroe set to debut in China
Chinese film company DMG Entertainment has struck a deal to develop "Mini Marilyn," a cartoon version of the late iconic actress.
The deal is with Authentic Brands Group LLC, the two companies plan to develop the character for film, merchandise and in forthcoming retail and entertainment projects.
The companies are hoping that Mini Marilyn, a cutesy cartoon version of her blonde bombshell image, will strike it big with Chinese audiences.
Dan Mintz, DMG's chief executive and co-founder said, while Marilyn Monroe isn't a household name in China, most Chinese consumers know "Meng Lu," Monroe's Chinese name.
They are also familiar with the image of her holding down her white dress in the film "The Seven Year Itch."
Beijing International Film Festival sells 2 million tickets in 2 hours
The Beijing International Film Festival box office hit two million ticket sales online in just two hours.
Tickets for the festival went on sale on the official website.
According to festival organizers, the ticket sales hit the one million mark within 15 minutes of its launch.
American movies such as "Once Upon a Time in America" and "The Godfather Trilogy" are among the bestselling films.
Tickets for the late Japanese animation master Kon Satoshi's work are already sold out.
The 5th Beijing International Film Festival will kick off on April 16 and end on the 23rd. Around 300 Chinese and foreign films will be played in cinemas, art institutions and colleges around the city.
Rocky Horror Picture Show to be made into movie
The Rocky Horror Picture Show is to be made into a Fox television movie.
High School Musical director and choreographer Kenny Ortega will remake the film, sticking closely to the script from Richard O'Brien's original Rocky Horror Show stage play.
The filmmaker is expected to give the classic show some visual altercations rather than making major changes to the storyline.
Fox has not yet issued any official confirmation about an on air date, or cast for its new version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Lionsgate and Comic-Con to launch video streaming service
Movie studio Lionsgate and Comic-Con International are set to launch a new streaming video service this year.
The Santa Monica based studio behind the blockbuster "Hunger Games" films began discussing the service with Comic-Con nearly two years ago.
The offering will be subscription based, though the companies did not say what they would charge viewers for access.
The online channel will feature original short videos, Comic-Con archive footage, and movies and TV shows from Lionsgate and other studios.
It's the latest move into streaming by Lionsgate, which last year teamed up with China's Alibaba Group on a video service for Alibaba's set-top boxes.
Weather
Beijing has light rain to moderate rain tonight with a low of 5, tomorrow light rain with a high of 11.
Shanghai is cloudy tonight with a low of 11, tomorrow, overcast, high of 20.
Chongqing is cloudy tonight, 15 degrees the lowest, tomorrow, sunny, high of 26.
Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia,
Islamabad, sunny tomorrow with a high of 37.
Kabul, sunny, 24.
Over in Australia
Sydney, scattered showers, high of 21,
Canberra, overcast, 21,
Brisbane, partly cloudy, 29,
Finally Perth will have scattered showers with a high of 21 degrees Celsius.
That’s it for this weekend edition of the Beijing Hour.
A quick look at the headlines before we go...
The premier is encouraging the top Chinese railway companies to pursue global markets with quality products and superior after-sales services...
Three more founding members have been approved for the Asian Infrastructure investment bank, including South Korea and two countries from Europe...
And the US and Cuban leaders have shaken hands during an historic meeting in Panama...
In our weekly Biz review: stimulus for the Chinese economy, smartphones, and the new Apple Watch… |