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

Coming up on the program this evening...

China and Peru agree to study the feasibility of a transcontinental railroad...

The Chinese mainland's Taiwan Affairs Chief has a meeting with his new counterpart from the Island...

The focus was squarely on China at the 2nd International Asian Congress, held in Poland...

In our BIZ roundup, reviewing some of the deals signed during the Chinese premier's trip to Latin America...

In Sport: the NHL's New York Rangers even their series against Tampa...

In Entertainment: Chinese Film Week has begun in Berlin...

All of that coming up in just a moment, but first, just a reminder there are several ways to reach out to us here on the Beijing Hour.

You can follow us on our weibo account at weibo.com/beijinghour, or email us directly at [email protected]. You can also visit english.cri.cn for the latest news and information from China Radio International.

Top NewsChina, Brazil, Peru Eye Transcontinental Railway MegaprojectAnchor:

China and Peru have agreed to study the feasibility of a transcontinental railroad that will connect Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast. The agreement comes as the Asian giant looks increasingly to Latin America to feed China's hunger for commodities.

CRI's Poornima Weerasekara reportsReporter:

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang signed a raft of agreements in Peru on Friday, covering investment, education and hydropower. He was in Lima on the third leg of his Latin American tour.

But the most ambitious project on the agenda focused on building a transcontinental railroad between Brazil and Peru that could make it faster and cheaper to transport commodities from Latin America to China.

Premier Li has already signed an agreement with both Peru and Brazil to conduct a feasibility study on the project.

Li Keqiang says the rail-link is win-win for all sides.

"I hope this agreement will continue to bear fruit. We have maintained a conversation on a cross-continental railroad and we witnessed the signing of a memorandum for this project. During my tour in Brazil, I also signed a memorandum of this kind, for the construction of a bi-oceanic rail link that will further expand South America's connectivity, especially between the countries bordering the Pacific with Asia, strengthening trade contacts between the two sides."The proposed rail link, known as the "Twin Ocean Railroad", would connect Porto do A?u, a Brazilian Atlantic port, with Peru's Puerto Ilo on the Pacific Ocean along 3,300 miles of rail.

The project has an estimated cost of 10 billion US dollars and would take six years to complete.

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala says the project could be a major boost to Latin America's sluggish economies.

"This project consolidates Peru's political position as a natural gateway to the South American region (for China). This is an ambitious project that we're moving forward with and we're moving forward in a responsible way. Furthermore, we're taking concrete steps towards this project which is long-term and a multi-million dollar project that could consolidate and develop the local economies of Brazil, China and Peru."China is a major trading partner for both Brazil and Peru. Brazil is a top exporter of iron ore and soybeans to China, while the biggest share of Peruvian exports - primarily minerals like gold and copper - also go to the Chinese market.

In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $250 billion in investment in Latin America over the next 10 years as part of a drive to boost China's influence in a region long dominated by the United States.

Li will next head to Chile on the final leg of his Latin America tour.

For CRI I'm Poornima WeerasekaraYoung professionals study at Confucius school in PeruAnchor:

There are four Confucius schools in Peru. The one that is jointly organized by Ricardo Palma University and Hebei Normal University is the first of its kind cultivating Chinese-Spanish translators.

Our reporter Guo Yan has the details.

Reporter:

"I'm very interested in Chinese culture and l like studying Chinese very much."'I'm hugely interested in your culture. And I want to travel to China maybe I will go to see the Great Wall ''

"I want to go to work in China.""I want to study in China and I want to travel there."Ricardo Palma University is located in Lima, the capital of Peru, and is famous for its modern language studies. It is the first university in South America to make Chinese-Spanish translation a major on its curriculum.

Rosa Flipchuk is the head of the Confucius school at the universityWith the support of the Confucius Institute, in 2011, a Chinese and Western Translation program was launched jointly by the Confucius Institute and the School of Modern Language at Universidad Ricardo Palma. In a 5 year term, students can get a comprehensive education of the study of interpretation and translation based on the two languages."The first group of students majoring in Chinese-Spanish translation are going to graduate next year.

Pan Bingxin is a professor teaching Chinese at the school and says he is proud of his students.

"This is the ninth semester. The first students are due to graduate next fall as they will complete ten semesters. Their translation skills are generally acceptable. They have been studying in China for one year, so they have improved a lot in speaking and listening. The translation level of these students should be at level five of the HSK test, and some can reach level six."Rosa says China and Peru keep close contact in trade and the students could find positions in Chinese companies in Peru.

The trade relationship between China and Peru is very close, with more than a hundred more Chinese companies already running businesses in the Peruvian market. Students who are studying Chinese-Spanish translation can be employed in these Chinese companies after their graduation. As for these students, this means they can have a bright future. This works well for both China and Peru.

Also, these young translators are expected to help improve the bilateral relationship between the countries.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.

Chilean former president calls to improve bilateral cooperationFormer Chilean president Eduardo Frey urges China and Chile to upgrade bilateral relations, as Chinese premier Li Keqiang visits the Latin America, with his next stop being Chile.

"Annual trade between China and Chile wouldn't have surpassed four billion US dollars 20 years ago, while today, a quarter of Chilean exports go to China. Meanwhile, Chile's parliament and China's National People's Congress have signed strategic cooperation agreements and established regular exchanges. In addition, the Regional Center of Confucius Institutes for Latin America has been set up in Chile, while organizations devoted to bilateral cultural exchange have been operational for decades. All of these reflect the traditional friendship of China and Chile."The two countries signed a free trade agreement in 2005. And China has become the largest trading partner for Chile since the agreement took effect.

Frey says that China imports huge amounts of fruit from Chile every year and he speaks highly of the achievements on bilateral trade.

"China is the largest trade partner of Chile, the largest buyer of our apples, grapes, cranberrys and cherrys. More than 70 percent of cherry products sold in China during the annual Spring Festival are imported from Chile. Meanwhile, we also export a large quantity of beef, pork and chicken to China. Chile is also China's second largest grape wine supplier and a major copper exporter to China, while we mainly import industrial products from China."Frey also suggests China should continue investments in infrastructure construction in Chile.

Cross-Strait affairs chiefs meet in KinmenThe Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, Zhang Zhijun, has held a formal meeting with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia in the island's Kinmen County.

This is the first meeting between the two since Hsia took the position in February.

During Zhang's two-day visit, he will also meet with Kinmen's county head and talk to people from all walks of life to learn about their opinions of cross-Strait exchanges.

Zhang made his long-awaited trip to Taiwan in June last year as the first Taiwan affairs chief from the mainland to do so in 65 years.

Chinese Firm Win Lawsuit against US Anti-dumping ProbesChina International Marine Containers Ltd. (CIMC) has won a lawsuit against US anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.

The US International Trade Commission made a final decision on the year-long case, affirming its domestic industry is not threatened with material injury because of imported Chinese inland dry containers.

The decision means the US is not allowed to levy tariffs against Chinese cargo containers of this kind.

Zhang Baoqing, vice president of the company says the 53-foot containers are popular in North America, but are totally different from typical US containers.

"The original US products are made of aluminum, while our Chinese products are made of steel. One advantage of steel-made containers lies in the low maintenance cost. Our products are totally different from the original U.S. ones. Ours have good performance and low maintenance costs. So they are popular among customers."The lawsuit is the first of its kind to be won by a Chinese company this year.

Wang Yu, the company's chief legal adviser, says winning such a lawsuit is of great importance to the entire industry.

"We think we have won the case for the whole industry, which enables us to stand firmer when confronting such international disputes, even to face international trade frictions at a national level. I think it has improved our abilities to resolve international trade disputes, including how to make quick responses and rapidly organize internal and external resources," saidThe Chinese company would have had to pay 180 million US dollars if the US International Trade Commission found its domestic industry was threatened with material injury by Chinese products.

Stock Watchdog Crackdown on ManipulationChina's security watchdog has launched a new campaign against 12 kinds of abnormal trades.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission says the crackdown mainly targets price manipulation through exaggerated or false information, and insider trading and price controlling by dominant shareholders or senior managers of listed companies.

The commission's spokesman Deng Ge.

"With the stock market turning better, some people are challenging the law with changing methods. We handle such cases mainly against the new-type manipulation in the stock market, which are widely concerned among the society. Next CSRC will enhance comprehensive check, screening and analysis efforts on information disclosure and abnormal tradings of listed enterprises."This is the third campaign against crime in the stock market this year.

Deng says market manipulation affects prices, hurts investors, and even brings risk to the capital market system.

Chinese stocks climbed to seven-year highs on Friday, with the Shanghai Composite Index surging by 2.8 percent.

2nd Int'l Asian Congress ConcludesAnchor:

China-related topics, particularly the Silk Road initiative, have become a highlight of the 2nd International Asian Congress held in northern Poland.

Zhao Jianfu has more.

Reporter:

The two-day session attracted around 400 diplomats and scholars from countries including China, India, and Japan.

At the meetings, participants discussed a rich variety of topics related to politics, economy, sociology, science and history.

Sponsored by Poland's Asia Pacific Society, the conference aims to help people better understand Asia and attract more people to Asia.

Adam Marszalek is President of the Asia Pacific Society. He says most seminars and discussions centered on China.

"Compared with the last conference, this year's attracted more attendees from broader fields and is dominated by China-related topics. Of the more than 300 academic papers we have received, most focus on China's economy, politics, religions and ethnic groups."Lin Jian from Chinese Embassy to Warsaw says the meetings can help promote the Sino-Polish cooperation in trade and culture, especially between local governments of the two countries.

He is also upbeat about the future development of ties between China and countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

"The cooperation between China and Poland is facing two crucial opportunities. One is the '16 plus 1 cooperation' formula which was launched three years ago and aimed to boost collaboration between China and the 16 countries in central and eastern Europe. The other is China's Silk Road initiative that has attracted many participant countries, including Poland and its neighbor nations. We believe these two platforms can benefit Sino-Polish relations."Krzysztof Szumski is the former head of the Asia Department at Poland's Foreign Ministry. He suggests there is broad common ground between China's Silk Road initiative and Europe's renaissance effort.

"We should realize that China is now the second largest economy in the world and will become the largest within 20 years. Over the past years, China has adopted flexible policies to combine its diplomacy with economics. Its Silk Road initiative is appealing to both Poland and the whole of Europe. If combined with this initiative, Europe's renaissance effort may get new momentum."Besides China, people at the conference also discussed the rise of Asia.

Jerzy Bayer, once a Polish diplomat to China, says Asia has been a growing priority in Poland's foreign policy.

"Relationships between Poland and Asian countries are becoming better and better. Our foreign ministry has spent more time and energy on Asian this year than ever. In the past, Asia-related issues lacked attention. But it has changed due to Asia's growing role in both global economy and politics."Most participants at the meetings recognize the great changes in Asia and the continent's growing role in the world. Meanwhile, they suggest that more efforts be made for study on Asia's future development.

For CRI, I'm Zhao Jianfu.

Parties Divided over Mideast Nuke-free ZoneTalks to strengthen nuclear non-proliferation have failed to reach an agreement on a final document, as the United States and its allies opposed establishing a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

The 2015 Review Conference concluded Friday at UN headquarters in New York.

Since the treaty went into effect in 1970, such review conferences have been held every five years.

Debates at the ninth review conference focused on the establishment of a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear weapons.

Such a zone was agreed on at the previous conference in 2010, but no action was taken.

Egypt and other Arab countries proposed convening a meeting on this issue by March of next year.

However, the United States, Britain and Canada said "no".

Israel, which is not a member of the NPT but attended the conference as an observer, is against the proposal backed by Arab countries.

Israel, one of the United States' allies, is believed to be the only country possessing nuclear weapons in the Middle East, although it has never acknowledged that.

China's Ambassador for Disarmament Fu Cong addressed the closing session and stated China's stand.

"China deeply regrets that the review conference failed to approve a final document. Although the final document is unable to satisfy all the parties regarding some problems, it is a relatively balanced document that China can accept. "China has expressed its support to the early convening of an international conference on the establishment of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

Japan and S.Karea's finance minister told talks on further cooperationJapanese and South Korean finance ministers held bilateral talks in Tokyo, resuming dialogue after a two-year suspension.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso says the sides agreed to strengthen economic and bilateral cooperation, and to exchange views on financial policy measures.

South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan talks about the tasks on structural reform facing the two nations.

Choi added there are still many things needed for the mutual economic ties such as the international cooperation, increased Asian infrastructure and free trade agreements.

The ministers agreed to hold the next round of talks in South Korea next year.

Russia: BRICS Also Coop on Space Arms Race, Middle EastA senior Russian diplomat has noted that BRICS nations have been united not only on economic affairs but also on long-term security threats and challenges, including the space arms race and the Middle East situation.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the remarks while addressing the 7th BRICS Academic Forum on Friday.

He added that BRICS nations support Russia's initiatives to ban the deployment of weapons in space.

The three-day forum in Moscow comes less than two months ahead of this year's BRICS Summit.

Ryabkov said this year's BRICS Summit will become "a new milestone" in the bloc's development and will help deal with modern challenges in a more efficient way.

He also mentioned the BRICS Development Bank and its future development.

"I believe in the coming months, especially at the Ufa summit, we will thoroughly discuss the future development of the BRICS Development Bank. At present, BRICS countries are actively making various preparations in order to build a more modern and democratic international financial organization, with BRICS Development Bank being an important part."Also at the forum, Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, warned that BRICS' geopolitical rivals would attempt to "artificially" stir up trouble among the bloc's members.

"The establishment of a BRICS bank and foreign exchange reserve fund pose a threat to the Bretton-Woods system. It shows that as the BRICS nations start to lead the world in economy, we have enough confidence to challenge the global financial rules. This is a very serious announcement."Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will attend the 7th BRICS Summit from July 8-9 in Ufa, capital of Russia's Bashkortostan republic.

Gun Battle Leaves 43 Dead in MexicoAt least 43 people, including a police officer, have been killed in a gun battle between federal forces and suspected drug gang gunmen on a ranch in western Mexico.

The casualty number is the largest since President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in late 2012.

National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido says the confrontation lasted for three hours.

"Up to this moment authorities have accounted for 42 suspected criminals who were shot and three more suspects arrested. Who are they? They were part of a criminal organisation with its main area of operations being Jalisco state."Rubido says dozens of weapons were seized from the scene, but did not mention the Jalisco New Generation, the drug cartel that dominates the area.

The JNG is seen the largest threat to the Mexican government, killing at least 20 police since March. On May 1, its gunmen shot down a military helicopter in southwestern Jalisco in a series of concerted attacks.

President Nieto has pledged to put an end to years of gang violence that has claimed more than 100,000 lives since 2007.

Local authority investigate oil leak in CaliforniaAnchor:

The company responsible for a pipeline that spilled thousands of gallons of oil along the California coast says the cause of the leak may not be known for months.

Our reporter Tu Yun has details.

Reporter:

Plains All American Pipeline LP spokesman Patrick Hodgins says engineers still need to examine the broken pipe, which started leaking on Tuesday.

"We still have yet to find the actual release point. Once we do that we will work with PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration) who will also have a third party consultant in here to take the piece of pipe involved to a third party lab where they will have metallurgical engineers look at that piece of pipe to determine what exactly caused the release. And until we have that information, which takes months as you can understand, we won't know the exact cause. Once we know that, we'll take the appropriate measures to make sure that we don't let it happen again."His comments come as bad weather slows cleanup efforts at the spill site in Santa Barbara.

Workers in protective suits have been shoveling black sludge off beaches.

Officials say the number of cleanup workers has surpassed 300, and the number of boats working the slick rose to 18.

US Coast Guard officer David Mosely says oil skimmers have contained around 8,000 gallons of oily water.

"So far our skimmers offshore, they've collected over 8,000 gallons of oily water mix so they're continuing to try and corral the oil as it's found offshore and then skim it from the water surface there."He adds the clean-up effort could continue into next month.

Wildlife experts have been busy rescuing and cleaning seabirds that have were covered by oil.

Veterinarian Dr Christine Fiorello says six pelicans are being cleaned at a centre in Los Angeles. He adds the birds will also be given medical treatment before being released back into their habitat.

"We've got six oiled pelicans from this Santa Barbara spill they're all heavily oiled. Two of them have been washed, the remaining, or I should say three of them have been washed the remaining are three getting prepared for wash I believe. Our goal is to get these birds stabilised to get them warm, hydrated and comfortable and get them washed as soon as possible and then rehabilitated so they can go back home."The disaster has killed thousands of sea birds and other wildlife.

Experts fear that the pelicans and the lone sea lion rescued so far may be the tip of a potential wildlife calamity.

For CRI I'm Tu Yun.

Scientists study pilots' brain waves during air emergenciesAnchor:

Scientists are working to understand how a pilot's brain responds in emergency situations in the air.

Their work will enable cockpits to be designed to function in accordance to the human brain and could even help save lives.

CRI's Fu Yu has more.

Reporter:

Scientists from France, the United States and Japan are working together to understand how the brain of a pilot functions.

No matter how well trained and experienced a pilot is, human error is always possible and the pilot may become distracted or make an error during flight.

Mickael Causse, an assistant Professor of Neuroergonomics, says the team of scientists are trying to understand the problem of human factors by using tools from neurosciences.

"We are taking advantage of all of that in order to better understand the functioning of the human being in poor conditions, under stress, tiredness and maybe then prevent accidents that could be avoided."The research team found that pilots involuntarily ignored sound alarms in extremely stressful situations.

They are currently developing instruments that might help pilots to handle the workload by simplifying the cockpit and monitoring eye movements and brain activity.

Daniel Callan, a senior researcher at Japan's Institute of Information and Communication Technology, says future cockpits should be able to relieve the pressure on pilots in emergencies.

The future cockpit is, hopefully, noninvasive, brain machine interface, be able to monitor the workload of the pilot and use countermeasures, through the technology, with perhaps heads up display to present information to the pilot in a most optimal way and to reduce the amount of information in the pilot optimally so that in high workload conditions it's only the situation that they need to deal with is what they need to attend to."Pilot behavior and security has been under question since the Germanwings crash last March.

Causse said there is no device that can detect a pilot's suicide attempt and be able to handle that.

He adds that travelers are unlikely to fly in pilotless planes or with just one pilot in the future.

"There is a psychological obstacle, are passengers going to enter pilotless aircraft? For now I would say they are not. Having only one pilot, unfortunately we saw what happened with Germanwings that can be an issue. For now, I think we will keep two pilots in the cockpit for some time."The Germanwings Flight 9525's co-pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board.

Airline companies have since required at least two pilots to be in the cockpit at the same time.

For CRI, I'm Fu Yu.

African Ambassadors Celebrate Anni of Organization of African UnityAfrican ambassadors in Beijing have held an event to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of the Organization of African Unity and its successor, the African Union.

This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum and the 50th anniversary of the first Chinese medical team to Africa.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy with a low of 19, sunny tomorrow with a high of 34.

Shanghai, also cloudy tonight with a low of 19, same skies tomorrow, highs of 25.

Chongqing will be overcast with a low of 20, cloudy tomorrow and a high of 25.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia,Islamabad, sunny, 37,Kabul, sunny, 28.

Over in Australia,Sydney will be sunny with a high of 19,Brisbane, cloudy, 23,And finally Perth will be mostly sunny with a high of 21 degrees Celsius.

Headline NewsChina, Peru agree on feasibility study on transcontinental railwayChina and Peru have agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a proposed railway connecting Peru's Pacific coast with Brazil's Atlantic coast.

The agreement comes during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Peru.

Upon his arrival, Premier Li Keqiang said that Peru was among the first countries in Latin America to establish bilateral relations and reach a free trade agreement with China.

The Premier added that China would like to consolidate the friendship and mutual trust with Peru and explore new cooperation opportunities in industrial capacity.

Peru is the third leg of Premier Li Keqiang's four-nation tour to Latin America after Brazil and Colombia.

Cross-Strait affairs chiefs meet in KinmenThe Chinese mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, Zhang Zhijun, has held a formal meeting with Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Andrew Hsia in the island's Kinmen County.

This is the first meeting between the two since Hsia took the position in February.

During Zhang's two-day visit, he will also meet with Kinmen's county head and talk to people from all walks of life to learn about their opinions of cross-Strait exchanges.

Zhang made his long-awaited trip to Taiwan in June last year as the first Taiwan affairs chief from the mainland to do so in 65 years.

China, INTERPOL to enhance cooperation in police training, combating transnational crimeChina's Ministry of Public Security and INTERPOL have agreed to enhance cooperation in police training and in combating transnational crime.

The agreement was reached on Friday at a meeting in France between the director of the Ministry's Political Department, Xia Chongyuan, and INTERPOL Secretary General Jurgen Stock.

According to a press release from INTERPOL, additional officers from China will work with INTERPOL in order to further improve the flow of information between the two sides.

Last year, more than 9-thousand participants took part in more than 300 INTERPOL training sessions, workshops, seminars, conferences and other educational meetings around the world.

These activities aim to provide law enforcement on the ground with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively combat transnational crime.

All 16 trapped in SW China collapsed building found deadThe last of the missing people trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed building in Guangxi have been found.

The last three bodies were retrieved just before 1 o'clock this afternoon. The disaster claimed 16 lives.

The nine-story building had been home to over 100 people.

A rain-triggered landslide earlier this week is believed to be responsible for the destruction of the building.

2015 NPT review conference concludes without approving final documentThe 2015 Review Conference for a UN treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has concluded in New York without approving a final document.

This is due to major differences among countries concerned about the establishment of Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction.

During the sessions, about 190 states conducted a comprehensive review of the implementation of the NPT.

They also held discussions on directions and priorities for the next phase of work.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong led the Chinese delegation and made remarks at the general debate of the conference.

The Chinese delegation comprehensively elaborated China's positions and proposals on the relevant issues, and has been actively promoting the adoption of a final document.

Weekly Biz Roundup (Saturday)Anchor:

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

A raft of new business deals have been signed in Brazil as part of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the Latin American country. China's cabinet has unveiled a 10-year action plan designed to transform the country's manufacturing industry. A new investment company has been established to help Chinese firms go global. And entertainment giant Disney has opened the biggest retail store in the company's history in Shanghai.

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

Reporter:

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang started his four-nation Latin America tour on Monday.

During his stay in Brazil, the Chinese and Brazilian governments signed a total of 35 agreements.

The deals center around trade, finance, energy, mining, aviation and an upgrade of Brazil's dilapidated infrastructure.

They range from the purchase of passenger jets made by Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer to the lifting of an import ban on Brazilian beef.

One highlight is an agreement to start feasibility studies on a railroad, which would cross the Andes and link Brazil's Atlantic coast to Pacific ports in Peru.

As part of a China-Brazil business summit, Li Keqiang also announced the establishment of a 30-billion-U.S.-dollar fund for promoting China-Latin America cooperation in production capacity and equipment manufacturing.

Industrial capacity refers to the upgrading of existing industrial facilities and equipment to make them more efficient.

Xu Shicheng, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that Premier Li's visit will further promote the deepening of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

"China's economy is growing slower; the requirement for Latin America's iron ore and oil is dropping. They have to improve the added value on their primary products before exporting. We'll cooperate with the region through industrial capacity in order to improve their manufacturing production level."China's State Council on Tuesday unveiled a national plan, dubbed "Made in China 2025", focusing on promoting manufacturing.

The plan is based on a national research project jointly conducted by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, that began in 2013.

Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology says the plan is designed to transform China from a manufacturing giant into a world manufacturing power.

"Industrialization and an emphasis on information in logistics will be deeply integrated to promote the development of the whole manufacturing industry, which was proposed at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This will be a task we must fulfill in implementing the Made-in-China 2025 Plan. It is also a new highland that we must conquer."The plan defines ten key areas where breakthroughs should be made, including new information technology, digital controlled tools and robotics.

Miao Wei particularly stressed the importance of Internet technologies.

(act03, Miao, Chinese, male)"The best and biggest opportunity lies in the application of Internet technology in manufacturing. It will become the biggest catalyst and engine to accelerate this round of development. It will promote the manufacturing from being electrification-based directly to being intelligence-based."China's top economic regulator on Monday approved the construction of 6 new railway projects worth some 250 billion yuan, or around 40-billion U.S. dollars.

The National Development and Reform Commission or NDRC says the projects include four new high-speed lines in Shandong and Jiangsu, and Liaoning.

Luo Guosan, deputy director of the NDRC's investment department, says the move is an addition to the central government's current infrastructure construction plan.

"We will continuously improve the infrastructure construction according to the actual needs and bring some qualified projects into the plan. NDRC has been working with relevant government departments, local authorities and enterprises recently."A pair of rail lines in the cities of Chengdu and Nanning are also part of the new plan.

On Wednesday, China's top economic regulator announced that the country will provide various kinds of financial support to help domestic companies go global.

The announcement came after the State Council unveiled guidelines for accelerating industrial capacity cooperation on Saturday.

Gu Dawei with the National Development and Reform Commission says there will be a breakthrough in financial support for companies looking to globalize.

"The guideline specifies that companies can mortgage offshore assets and ask for loans inside the country. It is a major breakthrough. All Chinese financial institutions should speed up their pace of globalization, setting up branches abroad, and providing financial services to facilitate Chinese companies going global."At the same time, the NDRC also announced that a new investment arm of the China Investment Corporation has been established.

The new subsidiary of China's sovereign wealth fund has been given a 5-billion US dollar seed.

It will focus on the automotive, rail and machinery sectors.

China vowed on Wednesday to invest hundreds of billions of yuan in the coming years to increase Internet speed and expand broadband access in rural regions.

The country plans to spend more than 430 billion yuan or some 70 billion U.S. dollars this year and more than 700 billion yuan total in 2016 and 2017 on Internet infrastructure.

China will also accelerate building of high-speed broadband networks and improve Internet access in more than 14,000 villages by the end of 2015.

By the end of 2017, the average cable broadband speed for users in major cities will be increased to 30 megabytes per second, more than triple the current speed, while that in smaller cities will be upgraded to 20 megabytes per second.

The State Council also vowed to expand the 4G network to cover the whole of the country by the end of 2017.

On the corporate front,Chinese train makers CSR and CNR started swapping stocks on Wednesday as the former had been delisted from both the Shanghai Stock Exchange on the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It is a big step forward in their long-awaited merger.

The stock swap ratio has been set at one CNR share for 1.1 shares of the CSR.

After the stock swap, a new company called CRRC Corporation will be formed.

The combined company will inherit all assets, liabilities, business, staff, contracts, certificates and all other rights and obligations of the two companies.

The incorporated company will focus on overseas industrial distribution and management in an effort to build a promising global influence.

It will restart trading as soon as in June.

An international women' s conference organized by Alibaba Group opened on Wednesday in east China's Hangzhou City.

Some 800 female participants from around the world attended the event where they shared their entrepreneurial experience.

Alibaba's founder Jack Ma said in the conference that the internet age has provided women with unprecedented opportunities in business.

He said his company would set up a fund to support female entrepreneurs.

Over 50 percent of the online shop owners registered on Alibaba's taobao.com are women.

Ma said female shop owners generally have better credibility than their male counterparts.

Alibaba is considering making the conference a regular event.

The Walt Disney Company opened its biggest ever retail store, in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The store in the heart of Shanghai is 860-square meters in size and has an outdoor space of some 5,000 square meters.

Paul Candland, president of Disney's Asia-Division, says the new store is somewhat exclusive to the Chinese market.

"Actually, I would be happy to walk you around the store, so you see some of our new exclusive China products. But there are many products here in the store that are exclusive to China, 90 percent of the merchandise here is only available in this store".

And that concludes this edition of the weekly business review. I'm Wenjie. Thank you for listening.

SportsCleveland Beat Atlanta 94-82 in Game 2In the NBA Playoffs,The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks 94-82 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals in Atlanta on Friday.

The Cavaliers were without injured star Kyrie Irving in the game.

LeBron James scored 30 points, and made 11 assists for Cleveland.

This was James' 74th 30-point playoff game, and that ties him with Jerry West for fourth on the career all-time list behind Michael Jordan (109), Kobe Bryant (88) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (75).

The Cavaliers says he learned a lot in the series opener and used those lessons in Game 2.

"In Game 1 we had a big lead and we decided to play the clock and that was my fault. I took that straight to the head and I knew that if I got that opportunity again I wouldn't let it happen again. So we had the same thing happen again today and we just kept our foot on the gas. We had early shots on the shot clock and we took them. If not, we executed and we were able to continue our roll. We continued to defend as well and that was very important."With the victory, Cavaliers take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Game 3 is Sunday in Cleveland.

Chinese Super League, English Premier League PreviewThree games are being played in the Chinese Super League tonight,Shandong Luneng seeks a third consecutive win, playing against Shanghai Shenhua.

Jiangsu Sainty plays Beijing Guo'an.

And it's Guangzhou Evergrande against city rivals Guangzhou R&F.

Both Beijing Guo'an and Guangzhou Evergrande have a chance to climb to the top of the league standings as they are tied for second place currently, only one point behind leaders Shanghai SIPG.

Over to English Premier League,The final round is to kick off on Sunday,Leaders Chelsea will play Sunderland to close the season before receiving the Premier League trophy.

Should they beat Sunderland, Chelsea will end the season with just three defeats, the lowest loss total since the inception of the Premier League in 1992 and beating Manchester's mark of five in 1999.

Chelsea has been on top of the league standings for 272 days, dating to August 30 last year, breaking the 262-day record set by Manchester United in the 1993-94 season.

In other action,Manchester United will take on Hull City.

Arsenal will play West Bromwich Albion.

And Manchester City will play Southampton.

New York Rangers Beat Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1In the NHL Playoffs,The New York Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 in Game 4 on Friday to tie the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 38 shots after allowing 12 goals over the previous two games, both losses.

The 33-year-old says teamwork made the difference.

"There were times, especially in the second, where they came really hard. But we weathered the storm, and we answered back with some huge goals. It still feels so good when you feel like you're doing it together. It's not just one or two guys, but we had everyone step up tonight. We knew the importance of this game. Going home 3-1 against this team would have been extremely tough, so our goal was just to get this one."Rich Nash scored two goals and got an assist for the Rangers.

Nash led the Rangers with 42 goals during the regular season, but he hadn't registered a point of any kind since Game 6 at the Washington Capitals in the second round.

Nash only had two goals in 15 playoff games before this game.

Game 5 will be Sunday in New York.

Zheng Saisai and Nadiia Kichenok Advance to the Finals at Strasbourg InternationalIn tennis,Chinese rising star Zheng Saisai and her partner Nadiia Kichenok reached the finals of the Strasbourg International on Saturday.

They knocked out British duo Jocelyn Rae and Anna Smith 6-1, 5-7, 10-3 in one hour and 23 minutes.

They will next play China's Liang Chen and her partner Chuang Chia Jung from Chinese Taipei for the title.

On men's side,Dominic Thiem reached the finals of the Nice Open with a 7-6, 6-3 win over second seed John Isner.

The world number 42 is now seeking to clinch his first ATP World Tour crown when he plays Leonard Mayer, who eliminated Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3.

In men's doubles,Mate Pavic and Michael Venus booked their spot in the final after they defeated Martin Emmrich and Andreas Siljestrom 6-2, 7-6 in 79 minutes.

Rory McIlroy misses cut at BMW PGA ChampionshipIn golf,Francesco Molinari is leading the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth after shooting a three-under 69 for a 10-under total of 134.

He shot five birdies and just two bogeys on the round to lead by two strokes.

China's Li Haotong shot a two-over 74 and is in 81st place.

Rory McIlroy stumbled and is out of the tournament after shooting a six-over 78.

McIlroy made six bogeys and a double bogey on the par-four 11th to finish with a 149 total, four strokes over the cut-line.

EntertainmentChinese Film Week kicks off in BerlinA Chinese Film Week has kicked off in Berlin.

Chinese director Liu Jie and his film "Young Style" unveiled the event in Berlin's Babylon Cinema.

The film focuses on the college entrance examination in China and tells a story about Chinese young people's love and dreams.

nine films will be screened in the German capital over the next six days.

They include "My Lucky Star," "Ocean Heaven," "Police Story 2013," and "Beijing Love Story."The theme of this year's Chinese Film Week is "Experience China."It will also features exhibitions, forums, and a parade.

David Letterman's iconic studio dismantledDavid Letterman's farewell show may have drawn the largest Late Show audience in 21 years, but it was just another "soda pop" moment as everything else in the world of Show business.

On Thursday, a demolition crew took apart Letterman's iconic set at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater, throwing many of the items into a dumpster.

Letterman himself took some memorabilia after Wednesday's show ended. Other tidbits were also put on sale on eBay.

The iconic late night talk show host is stepping down after a 33 years on Prime-time TV.

Stephen Colbert from Comedy central is expected to fill Letterman's shoes.

Adam Lambert releases two new tracksPop singer Adam Lambert has released two new songs from his upcoming album 'The Original High'.

The one you are listening to is called "Another Lonely Night."Another one is funk-guitar-tinged "Evil in the Night".

Lambert's new album was produced by Max Martin and Shellback.

It is said to be darker than any of Lambert's previous works.

The former American Idol runner-up says it was quite scary to be that vulnerable in his new songs.

Lambert also teamed up with Swedish singer/songwriter Tove Lo for the song "Rumours".

The Original High will be released in mid-June.

Arthur Conan Doyle's estate sues Miramax over Mr. HolmesThe plot has thickened for Mr. Holmes, the upcoming film based on the later life of the world's most famous detective, and not in a good way.

The estate of Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is suing everyone -including the production company Miramax, the film director Bill Condon and even Mitch Cullin, the author of the book that has formed the basis of the film - for copyright infringement.

"Mr. Holmes" starring Ian McKellen is focused on Sherlock Holmes' later years as a retired man contemplating his life while getting involved in an unsolved mystery.

The first 50 of Conan Doyle's short stories and novels are in the public domain, but the last 10 are still protected by copyright in the United States.

Those stories are the ones that "develop the details of Holmes' fictional retirement life.

Doyle's family claims that Cullin's book "A Slight Trick of the Mind", which the film is based on has violated these copyrights.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy with a low of 19, sunny tomorrow with a high of 34.

Shanghai, also cloudy tonight with a low of 19, same skies tomorrow, highs of 25.

Chongqing will be overcast with a low of 20, cloudy tomorrow and a high of 25.

Elsewhere in the world, staying in Asia,Islamabad, sunny, 37,Kabul, sunny, 28.

Over in Australia,Sydney will be sunny with a high of 19,Brisbane, cloudy, 23,And finally Perth will be mostly sunny 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...

China and Peru agree to study the feasibility of a transcontinental railroad...

The Chinese mainland's Taiwan Affairs Chief has a meeting with his new counterpart from the Island...

On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, this is Shane Bigham in Beijing hoping you'll join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour, and open a window to the world together.