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

Coming up on the program this evening...

This year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit wrapping up in the Russian city of Ufa....

Leaders of SCO member states confirming their attendance at upcoming WWII commemoration in Beijing.....

And Typhoon Chan Hom making landfall in East China.....

In the 2nd half of the hour, we'll bring you our roundup of the biggest headlines this week in business.....

In Sports.... China beating Italy in the Volleyball world cup qualifying stages.....

And in Entertainment.... 'Tiny Times 4', 'Forever Young' dominating the Chinese Box Office.....

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

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Top NewsXi Delivers Speech to SCO SummitAnchor:

This year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit has wrapped up in the Russian city of Ufa.

At the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the SCO member states to uphold the "Shanghai Spirit" of common development.

CRI's Luo Wen reports.

Reporter:

In his speech to the 15th meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council, President Xi Jinping said the region faces challenges in security, stability and economic growth.

"Affected by external and internal factors, our region faces multiple difficulties and challenges in promoting stability, security and economic growth. We need to move faster and take more concrete actions to realize more progress of the organization at the new departure point."The president called for upholding the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

"We should follow the Shanghai spirit to build a community of common destiny. We should continue to observe the Shanghai spirit and other principles governing international relations championed by the SCO: uphold international equity and adjustors, promote multi-literalism and openness, respect each other's interests, refrain from interfering in other countries' internal affairs, settle disputes by peaceful means and seek common development and prosperity with a win-win approach."Xi Jinping also attached great importance to security in the region.

"We need to increase the action ability, create a strong security wall in the region. We need to be more proactive in political contacts and coordination, work out response measures and together defend the security as well as stability in all member states of our organization."The president suggested the SCO enhance security cooperation with Afghanistan, help its security forces play a bigger role in the process of national reconciliation and economic reconstruction.

In regard to economic cooperation, Xi Jinping said China is willing to strengthen investment cooperation with other SCO members via the platform of the China-Eurasia Economic Cooperation Fund and the Silk Road Fund.

He urged efforts to enhance connectivity of transportation facilities and expand people-to-people exchanges between SCO member states.

Friday's meeting also witnessed a resolution being passed to start the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership of the SCO.

It marks the first time the group has expanded since it was set up in 2001.

Currently, the bloc now has six full members including China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

In addition, Belarus would obtain observer status, joining Afghanistan, Iran and Mongolia.

Also at the summit, the leaders signed the Ufa Declaration and an agreement on border defense cooperation.

They also approved the organization's development strategy until 2025, a 2016-2018 cooperation program on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, and the drafting of a treaty on anti-extremism.

A consensus was reached on the peaceful settlement of international hotspot issues such as the Ukraine crisis.

A press communique on the 70th anniversary of the World Anti-Fascist War and WWII and a statement on the drugs issue were released.

The leaders also decided the 16th summit will be held in Uzbekistan's capital of Tashkent next year.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.

Interview with Shen Dingli on SCO's Acceptance of India, PakistanAnchor:

The leaders of the SCO states have ratified the resolution on starting the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership in the bloc.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China believes the admission of new forces into the SCO will inject new impetus into the organization's all-ranging cooperation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke highly of the expansion, saying that it is the first time in the SCO's history that it will process accession of new members.

Analysts say that with this expansion, the SCO will provide a platform for broader economic and security cooperation within the Eurasian region.

For more on the entry of India and Pakistan to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, CRI's Shane Bigham spoke with Shen Dingli, Vice Dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Fudan University.

Back anchor:

That was Shen Dingli, Vice Dean of the Institute of International Affairs at Fudan University, speaking with CRI's Shane Bigham.

Leaders of SCO member states to attend WWII commemoration in BeijingLeaders of all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have confirmed their attendance at the commemorative activities marking the 70th anniversary of the victory of Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in September in Beijing.

According to a press release issued after the 15th meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council, SCO leaders endorsed a statement to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the world anti-fascist war and WWII.

In the statement, leaders expressed profound gratitude to those people who made significant sacrifice and suffered great losses to free the world from oppression and destruction.

China can promote healthy development of capital market: premierChinese Premier Li Keqiang has said China has the confidence and capability to promote the healthy development of its capital market and provide a sound financial environment for economic growth.

The Premier made the remarks during a conference on Thursday which focused on the current economic situation and was attended by the governors of several Chinese provinces.

Li's remarks come as China is trying to arrest a stock market nosedive that has devoured huge amounts of wealth in a three-week plunge.

At the same time, Li Keqiang is calling for more confidence and effort to underpin the country's economic growth.

Li Keqiang says economic vitality is increasing and market confidence is rebounding, but the country still needs to stay alert.

"Based on the introduction from each governor and information provided by related departments, the Chinese economy has been operating steadily with signs of improvement since the second quarter of 2015. This means our economic policies have taken effect gradually. However, the foundation of the economy is not yet solid and external uncertainties are increasing. China is and will continue to face various challenges and risks during economic expansion. We will never take them lightly."The International Monetary Fund has downgraded its global economic growth projection to 3.3 percent for 2015. This is down 0.2 points from its forecast of 3.5 percent in April.

Speaking of economic plans in the second quarter, Li stresses the need for keeping sustainable macroeconomic policies and expanding domestic demand.

The Chinese premier has also stressed the government's determination to overhaul the country's economic structure, cut red tape and encourage entrepreneurship and innovation.

Typhoon Chan Hom Lands in E. China, Bringing Severe DamagesTyphoon Chan Hom has made landfall in east China's Zhejiang province.

The typhoon has brought gales and heavy rain and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of highways.

So far, no casualties have been reported.

Power supply to more than 200-thousand households in the coastal Ningbo city has been cut off.

Rainfall reached a record 400 millimeters at a village in Sanmen county.

Nine other counties have recorded more than 100 mm of rain and are experiencing flooding.

Over one million people in the province have been evacuated.

Nearly 30-thousand ships have been recalled to port, and several high-speed trains have also been canceled.

More than 46-thousand people have been evacuated in neighboring Jiangsu province.

China Slams Protests over Deported UygursChina has said that Thailand's repatriation of over 100 Uygurs to China is normal cooperation between countries as well as an international obligation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying says the repatriated Chinese minority citizens are illegal immigrants who have traveled to and stayed in Thailand through various channels.

Her comments come in response to questions regarding Thailand's repatriation of Uygurs on Wednesday, which sparked protests from countries including the United States and Turkey.

Hua says foreign governments and forces have ignored the facts and incorrectly labelled these illegal immigrants as 'refugees'.

"We found that some foreign governments and forces ignored the fact and called these illegal stowaways 'refugees' groundlessly. They condemned unscrupulously China's and Thailand's normal law enforcement and cooperation on cracking down illegal migration, and even politicized the issue. It's connivance on illegal migration and smuggling, and violates relevant international convention and laws. It goes against the common efforts of the international society on cracking down illegal migration. We cannot accept that."Hua also added that illegal immigration using counterfeit passports violates law and disrupts the international order of exit and entry.

She has also condemned recent violence against Chinese and Thai citizens and organizations in Turkey following Thailand's repatriation of the Uygurs.

She urges Turkey to take effective measures to protect the security and legitimate rights of embassies and personnel of China and other related countries.

Xinjiang citizens' religious freedom has been fully guaranteed: Xinjiang ScholarAnchor:

A local researcher in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has refuted foreign reports that authorities have banned fasting and prayers during Ramadan, saying that religious freedom is guaranteed for Muslims living in the region.

CRI's Wang Mengzhen reports.

Reporter:

Some recent reports from western media have accused the Chinese government of banning fasting and other worship activities for Uyger people in Xinjiang during the holy month of Ramadan.

But Ma Pinyan, with Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, says those reported bans indeed never existed.

"I've been living in Xinjiang since I was born and I've never encountered the prohibitions reported by some western media outlets. I have been studying religion since the early 1980s. I visited southern Xinjiang quite often and sometimes during the month of fasting. I've never seen any place in Xinjiang where fasting is forbidden or local people are banned from worshipping."Ma says national policies have been well implemented to guarantee religious freedom in Xinjiang and that the so-called religious discrimination does not exist.

The northwestern China's autonomous region is home to more than 12 million Muslims and over 80 percent of China's Islamic clergies. More than 2/3 of China's mosques are located there and 10 local ethnic groups follow the religion.

Ma also says that the local government has take multiple measures, including establishing Islamic schools, to help train religious clergies.

"The government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region established its Islamic Institution in 1986, which aims to train senior Islamic clergy, such as the imam hatips. It also set up Islamic schools in areas mainly populated by Muslim residents, like Kashgar, Khotan and Ili, which aim to train Islamic clergy for moderate to small-sized mosques. Only senior Islamic clergy are invited to give lessons. When these clergy become too old to lead worship, their students can then succeed them."Ma adds that in a bid to meet the demand from local Uygurs, the region's government translated the Qur'an, Islam's holy book, into the Uyghur language as early as the 1980s. And in recent years, a new edition of this book, as well as some authentic collections of the Islamic Sunnah have been translated and published.

Ma says that he hopes foreign reporters could visit Xinjiang someday and discover the truth themselves.

For CRI, I'm Wang Mengzhen.

China to donate additional 5 mln USD in post-Ebola recoveryChina has announced an additional donation of 5 million U.S dollars to the UN Ebola Response Multi-Partner Trust Fund at the International Ebola Recovery Conference.

The conference has called for more support for the West African people through combating the Ebola epidemic and helping with the recovery process.

Liu Jieyi, Chinese permanent representative to the UN, says China has made its efforts to help the three affected countries.

"After the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014, China has provided the largest ever medical assistance to foreign countries since the founding of the People's Republic of China, donating four batches of assistance to 13 countries in and around the affected areas with a total amount of 120 million U.S. dollars, and sending more than 1,200 medical workers there."Liu says the fight against Ebola is heading in a positive direction.

He calls for the international community to continue to strengthen unity to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone combat the epidemic and recover.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that the global community must help these countries long after the crisis subsides.

"Our shared goal is to build back stronger, safer and more resilient capacities for prevention and response."The conference is organized by the United Nations in partnership with the African Union, European Union, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Analysts optimistic on Greece's debtAnchor:

Experts remain cautious but are slightly optimistic regarding a possible deal on the Greek crisis as finance ministers of the 19-nation euro area prepare to meet on Saturday to decide on new negotiations.

Our reporter Guo Yan has the details.

Reporter:

Athens is now proposing a new set of tax hikes, pension cuts and economic reforms in exchange of a 53.2-billion-euro third bailout program through the European Stability Mechanism over the next three years.

The Greek parliament voted overwhelmingly on Saturday in favour of authorizing the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to negotiate with international creditors with the package.

The bill was passed by the plenum with 251 votes in favor and 32 against.

The latest reforms package is strikingly similar to the terms Greece had rejected in a referendum Tsipras had called in June.

Head of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research, Michael Hueter, said although he was skeptical about Greece's ability to enact all of the reforms, the Greek government's public support made the situation easier.

"The experience of the last five years is not very favorable for the assumption that they will [be] successful in succeeding all these, solvings of problems they have, but I think it's the first time that they have a government in Greece who have a big support from the public, impressive support in the parliament, so they are able to solve these problems more creatively and more... Straight to the target rather than the previous governments."He added that he was optimistic that contagion in the euro zone could be avoided.

"I am very optimistic that we can avoid this because all the other crisis countries -- Portugal, Italy, Spain and Ireland -- had a very different situation and had a different experience from the last five years (of economic crisis). From the crisis management they were able to go ahead in the restructuring the economy and restructuring the public budgets. So we have a different situation than in spring 2010. There is an isolated problem of Greece and there is a more stable euro zone of the rest, so I am optimistic that we will be able to manage this problem."Finance ministers of the 19-nation euro area will meet to decide whether to recommend opening negotiations despite exasperation at the five-year-old Greek crisis.

A senior EU official said the meeting would include discussions on whether Greece needs more debt relief.

Noah Barkin. Reuters Bureau Chief for Germany said the topic is one of the key issues to reach a deal.

"Yes, well, one of the big stumbling blocks has been Greek demands for debt relief. They are supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which says that Greece cannot return to sustainable debt levels without significant debt relief. What we'll probably see is instead of a sort of classic haircut, which means writing down the face value of the debt, the principle, we are going to see a stretching out of maturities of Greek debt if there is a deal."Greek banks have been closed since June 29, when capital controls were imposed and cash withdrawals rationed after the collapse of previous bailout talks.

Greece defaulted on an IMF loan repayment the following day and now faces a critical July 20 bond redemption to the ECB of 3.49 billion euros, which it cannot make without aid.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.

Malaysia holds ceremony for Flight MH17Malaysia has held a national memorial ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine.

Prime Minister Najib Razak announced at the ceremony that the criminal investigation is expected to continue until the end of the year.

"We call on all nations concerned to provide the fullest cooperation, so that we will be able to gather irrefutable evidence as to what happened and especially as to who will be responsible for this unforgivable incident."The plane was carrying 298 passengers and crew when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17 last year.

The flight was en-route from Kuala Lumpur to Amsterdam, and the majority of the passengers were Dutch.

The Malaysian government has asked the United Nations Security Council to set up an international tribunal to prosecute those suspected of downing the passenger airliner.

Malaysia has distributed a draft resolution to the Council, which it hopes could be adopted later this month.

Forty-three Malaysians were killed in the crash. The incident was the second major aviation disaster to hit the country and its national carrier.

It came just four months after flight MH370 which was bound for Beijing, disappeared off the radar with 239 passengers and crew on board. The plane has not been found.

Sound artists serenade century-old artworksAnchor:

London's National Gallery has teamed up with musicians to offer visitors a unique way of experiencing the collection of artworks through sound.

CRI's Fu Yu reports.

Reporter:

This is "Ultramarine" by DJ Jamie XX, a composition created to present Theo van Rysselberghe's 1892 painting "Coastal Scene."It is part of the exhibition called "soundscapes", a project where artists compose music clips, pulling inspiration from the paintings they see.

The exhibition features six artworks that are being serenaded by music in soundproof rooms.

Exhibition curator Minna Moore Ede says it's a wonderful way of re-imagining the artworks.

"The idea is that you step into the room and you look at one painting that has been chosen by the artist or musician and you hear their sound response. It's a very dark atmospheric space, these are six brand new sound and music commissions, so this is your only opportunity really to hear new work by these musicians in the context of the painting that they've chosen."New York based composer Nico Muhly created this piece in response to 'The Wilton Diptych', a 14th century altarpiece which shows the young Richard III in a religious setting.

"I try to respond to it in a way that wasn't cartoonish, it's not a one-to-one correspondence between how it looks and how it sounds. But instead, what I was aiming to do is surround it with material that's always in motion, so I worked with a sound designer called Jethro Cooke to make sure that everything is moving slowly in the way that with art that exists in 360 degrees you'd have to move around it to experience it."Curator Moore Ede says alternative exhibitions like "the soundscapes" open The National Gallery's vast collections to a new audience and give older artworks a new lease of life.

"We do wonderful monographic exhibitions on Rembrandt, on Goya, but there are many routes to get to a painting and this kind of exhibition will bring in a different public, it opens the paintings up to different types of people. And I think it's great for somewhere like The National Gallery to offer a really varied menu of exhibitions, if you like."The Soundscapes has opened and runs until early September.

For CRI, this is fu yu.

weatherBeijing will see some clouds tonight with a low of 24 degrees Celsius; sunny tocloudy tomorrow with a high of 37.

Shanghai has moderate rain tonight with a low of 24; rain continues tomorrow with a high of 28.

Chongqing has clear sky tonight with a low of 25, sunny tomorrow with a high of 36.

Lhasa will have showers tonight with a low of 12, tomorrow overcast with a high of 24.

Headline newsSigning of agreements at SCO meetingThe leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have signed documents finalizing the development strategy of cooperation of member states until 2025.

Meanwhile, leaders have ratified a resolution on starting the procedures of granting India and Pakistan full membership of the organization.

They have also decided to elevate Belarus to the status of observer from dialogue partner.

Four countries, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia and Nepal have been accepted as new dialogue partners.

The SCO summit is focusing on planning the organization's future development.

Typhoon Chan Hom Lands in E. China, Bringing Severe DamagesTyphoon Chan Hom has made landfall in east China's Zhejiang province.

The typhoon has brought gales and heavy rain and forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the closure of highways.

So far, no casualties have been reported.

Power supply to more than 200-thousand households in the coastal Ningbo city has been cut off.

Rainfall reached a record 400 millimeters at a village in Sanmen county.

Nine other counties have recorded more than 100 mm of rain and are experiencing flooding.

Over one million people in the province have been evacuated.

Nearly 30-thousand ships have been recalled to port, and several high-speed trains have also been canceled.

More than 46-thousand people have been evacuated in neighboring Jiangsu province.

1 dead, 12 injured in S China market stabbingA man has killed one person and injured twelve others in a stabbing incident at a farmer's market in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

The incident happened Saturday morning in the city's Longgang District.

The man is reported to have been involved in a family dispute.

He set fire to his own house before heading to the market armed with a kitchen knife.

None of the injured sustained life-threatening injuries.

They are all receiving treatment at a local hospital.

Death toll of NW China vehicle collision rises to 7A fatal vehicle collision in northwest China's Gansu Province has left seven people dead.

Four people died at the scene, while another three died later in hospital.

Another person has escaped with unthreatening injuries.

The incident occurred when an unlicensed tricycle collided with a truck at around 6.30p.m on Friday in Tianshui City.

The cause of the accident is currently under investigation.

Explosion at Italian consulate in Cairo kills one, injures fourA powerful explosion has left one person dead and four others injured in front of the Italian consulate in downtown Cairo.

The explosion has caused wide-spread damage to both the consulate and surrounding buildings.

Initial investigations show the explosion was caused by a bomb planted under a parked car close to the consulate.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the explosion so far.

Since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in July, 2013, Egypt has experienced frequent attacks launched by extremists, leaving hundreds of soldiers, police and civilians killed.

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.

Officials and experts are lauding a new lending initiative from BRICS countries.

Chinese shares staged a strong rebound on Friday after intensive moves by the government to bolster the market.

China's consumer price index edged up while the producer price index fell in June.

And China's first multiple unit train set to be exported to Europe has rolled off the production line.

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

Reporter:

The newly established New Development Bank, known as the BRICS Bank, was on top of the agenda at the BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia.

The bank, initialized last year at the sixth summit in Brazil, endeavors to help financing infrastructure and sustainability in the bloc and other developing countries.

Subir Gokarn, director of Brookings India, believes that BRICS bank will play an important role in India's infrastructure funding needs.

"Firstly it is the first concrete institution manifestation of the BRICS. So far, the BRICS has only been a grouping but it has not had anything concrete emerging from it. And this reflects the strongest bond, commonality between these countries because they are all basically strong, large economies who have very specific needs in terms of infrastructure development and so on. And the BRICS bank actually is going to provide an alternative channel for funding to be provided for these purposes."The Shanghai-based Bank will have initial authorized capital of 100 billion U.S. dollars, and its initial subscribed capital of 50 billion U.S. dollars will be equally shared among the founding members.

In addition, the bank has set up a contingency fund of 100 billion US dollars to help BRICS countries to cushion short-term liquidity pressure.

Gao Fei, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, says the bank and the fund will complement the existing global financial mechanisms.

"The current global financial system is a legacy of WWII, and reflects the post-war economic situation. But now 70 years has passed. The situation has changed dramatically with the increasing growth of emerging economies and developing countries. The western-led system has lagged behind the world financial and economic development. I think the BRICS bank and the contingency fund will add new impetus to the long-term, stable and continued growth of the world economy."The BRICS nations, accounting for about one fifth of the world GDP, have committed to making the bank a more inclusive, democratic and transparent international financial agency.

////////On the Chinese A share market,China's market rallied on Friday after intensive moves by the government to bolster the market.

Following recent supportive measures to stable the market, China's top securities regulator said on Friday that it will continue with its approval procedures for initial public offerings, though it confirms that there will be no IPOs in the short term.

China Securities Depository and Clearing Company Limited announced on Thursday night that both the transaction and scrip fees in the A-share market will be cut by 30 percent, starting next month.

On Thursday, six monitored insurance companies made net purchases of stocks and funds with a combined value of more than 15 billion yuan.

That same morning, the China Banking Regulatory Commission announced it will allow banks to extend mortgage loans that use share funds as collateral to prop up the stock market.

At the end of Thursday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 6 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index surged 4 percent.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, climbed 3 percent.

Tang Yonggang, an analyst at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities says the market shows signs of stabilizing as the regulator came to the rescue of small-caps, especially those on the ChiNext, easing the liquidity crisis and giving investors a much-needed dose of confidence.

"Individual stocks on ChiNext reached their daily limits, which have greatly influenced market confidence. We can see this has rapidly provided incentives for growth enterprises in emerging industries. Judging from the mainboard, aerospace and military industry stocks took the lead to pick up, which has significantly helped boost the public's confidence in the market. "In the meantime, Chinese police joined the securities regulator to investigate "malicious short selling."Meanwhile, the State Council, China's cabinet, has also assured that the government had plenty of tools at its disposal to restore confidence in the economy.

The announcement comes after a cabinet meeting presided by Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday.

////////The National Bureau of Statistics says China's consumer price index or CPI, a main gauge of inflation, edged up 1.4 percent year-on-year in June.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices in June have remained unchanged.

The rise of the index was attributed mainly to higher food prices, including vegetables and pork.

Pan Jiancheng, deputy director-general of China Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center, said stable agricultural production ensures the stability of the prices of farm produce, particularly food prices.

"On the other hand, continuous and modest rise of salary has pushed up service prices. So under the influence of these two factors, a modest rise of prices in the first half of this year can be viewed as a stable performance."The bureau also announced China's producer price index or PPI, which measures wholesaleinflation, slid 4.8 percent year on year in June.

The reading also marked the 40th straight month of decline, a sign of prolonged weakness of demand.

Month on month, producer prices in June decreased 0.4 percent.

Experts attributed the dive mainly to price declines in oil refining, chemistry materials and products.

////////China's land prices continue to rise this year in first tier cities, where the cost of buying a home has also been pushed up.

For the first half of this year, Shanghai's urban land sales value grew more than 5 percent from a year ago to over 50 billion yuan or more than 8 billion US dollars.

Average land prices grew year-on-year by more than 8 percent to over 9,000 yuan per square meter.

Wu Jianfeng, associate professor at the School of Economics at Fudan University says land reserves are becoming harder to obtain in Shanghai.

"This March, the Ministry of Land and Resources and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development released a notice for cities to adjust their land supply structure and ensure more balanced market development. Following that notice, many cities have cut the amount of land they are willing to sell. Also, land reserves are becoming harder to obtain in Shanghai."With less new land available, unit prices of some land, particularly those around the middle ring in Shanghai, are even rising above home prices.

However, property developers are still keen on bidding.

Lin Bo, the vice president of China Real Estate Information Corporation Research Center comments on the future trend of the property market.

"When land prices are so high, it increases the uncertainties and the risks in property projects. Individual developers don't want to take that risk, so more and more of them are choosing to work with others in recent years."Despite these partnerships reducing risks for developers, analysts expect home prices to continue to rise in first tier cities as long as demand continues to outstrip supply.

///////A ceremony has been held to announce the multiple units' rolling off the assembly line of Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Company Limited.

The multiple units which will be delivered to Macedonia are also the first products in accordance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability, or TSI, the rules especially made for railways in Europe.

Lin Wenjun, the chief-designer of the multiple units, says this means Chinese high-speed railway trains have gained qualification to enter the European market.

"In order to enter Europe, TSI is a technical threshold with a number of specific standards, including safety, comfort level, and even passengers' experiences, such as ensuring customers can smoothly walk inside the carriage, sit comfortably, or if their kids can reach the buttons and so on"The train will run on the railway between Tabanovce in northern Macedonia and Gevgelija at its southern border with Greece.

////////On the Corporate Front,China's homegrown taxi-hailing service Didi Kuaidi has announced it has raised 2 billionU.S dollars since starting fundraising two weeks ago, boosting its cash reserves.

The company said that existing stakeholders such as Alibaba and Tencent participated in the fundraising, while Capital InternationalPrivate Equity Fund, Ping An Ventures, and several other globally renowned investors have invested in this round of fundraising.

Didi Kuaidi had previously raised the financing target and is now looking to pool a further few hundred million dollars from new investors before the final closing in the coming month.

With the newly added 2 billion U.S. dollars, Didi Kuaidi will increase its cash reserves to above 3.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Competition in China's ride-hailing market is growing as U.S. company Uber Technologies Inc. started its formal fundraising this week specifically for its China operation, UberChina.

Didi Kuaidi is trying to broaden its offering to Chinese riders by expanding its premium car services and a carpool offering from its previous focus on the taxi market.

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

SportsVolleyball: China Beats Italy in World Grand Prix PrelimsIn volleyball.

China has beaten Italy 3-1 in Pool E of the ongoing FIVB World Grand Prix preliminary rounds.

During the first set, China built up a healthy lead taking 25-21 against Italy, with Junjing Yang putting up with a cross-court spike.

But Italy cruised to a 25-20 win at the second set after Valentina Tirozzi went ahead with a spike.

However, China rallied in the third set with Xinyue Yuan's spike to the backcourt to give them a 25-16 lead.

China eventually won the game 25-19.

Djokovic and Federer to Meet for Wimbledon FinalAnchor:

Into the 11th day at Wimbledon and the men's singles, World Number One Novak Djokovic beat Richard Gasquet to reach the final where he will play Roger Federer who beat Andy Murray on Centre Court on the same day.

CRI's London Correspondent Duan Xuelian reports from the grass at Wimbledon.

Reporter:

World Number One and top seed Novak Djokovic faced off French player Richard Gasquet in straight sets on Friday. It's his 10th win over the Frenchmen and the match saw Gasquet putting up an impressive effort.

In the post match interview, the French player says he can see why his opponent is always a cut above.

"I'm really pleased with the way I played. From the baseline I was playing great, I was fast, going to the net with a lot of confidence. But the key is, he serves better than me, he returns better than me, and when you have these two shots on grass, that what makes the difference."The second to play on Centre Court in the men's semi finals are seven time Champion Roger Federer and British number one Andy Murray. The audience expected some top spin tennis from the number two and number three seed and they surely didn't disappoint.

Both men are at their best and gave a three set match that was frequently punctuated with deuces and set points. In the end, it was Federer who turned out to be the better player, building up an immaculate service game and winning 84% of his first serve points.

This is how the 33-year old Swiss commented on his own performance:

"I think it's my serve again. I have been serving very well the entire tournament. I don't think I face one break point today, against maybe one of the best return game player we've seen in the tournaments. So I'm very very pleased to have done that. I kept the pressure up and I went for my shots and I was able to mix it up like the way I usually do. And then again, I just kept pushing forward, stay focused and it all worked out very well."In his 10th Wimbledon final, Federer will meet reigning champion Novak Djokovic on Sunday. The two were in last year's final together and it was the Serb who walked away with the Wimbledon title.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian reporting from Wimbledon.

Some other action coming up later tonight:

Serena Williams will take on Garbine Muguruza in the women's singles final.

That match will start at 9pm Beijing Time.

Later the final games for both men's and women's doubles will take place.

On the Men's side is, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau will take on Jamie Murray and John Peers.

While on the Women's side, Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza face Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

Pan Am Games Opens in TorontoOver 6000 athletes from 41 countries and regions in North and South America have been invited to the largest international multi-sport event ever held in Canada.

The host country itself has announced a full team of 719 athletes, the largest team ever fielded in the country's multi-sport games history.

The Pan American Games are a major sporting event in the Americas featuring summer sports held every 4 years in the year before the Summer Olympics.

This year's event will run until July 26th, followed by the Parapan Am Games in August.

MLB RecapOver to Major League Baseball:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have beaten St. Louis Cardinals 5-2.

This marks the Pirates' sixth win in seven games in the National League Central division.

During the action, Gerrit Cole pitched 7 strong innings to become the major league's first 13-game winner.

Meantime, New York Yankees have defeated Boston Red Sox 5-1.

For New York, this is their 3rd straight win and 5th in a row over their rivals.

Soccer Gold Cup RecapIn football, at the CONCACAF Gold Cup:

The United States have edged out Haiti with a slender 1-0 victory.

In the first half, Aron Johannsson fired a shot inside the box and put the ball past the keeper, but it was disallowed by the assistant referee.

In the second half, the home side got on the scoreboard with a goal by Clint Dempsey.

Gyasi Zardes fed a pass back in the box for Dempsey, who fired the U.S. into a 47th minute lead.

Dempsey has now scored in his last four games for the U.S national team, one shy of the record Altidore set two years ago.

In the meantime, Honduras picked up their first point as they came from behind to draw 1-1 with Panama.

Panama took the lead when a free-kick move saw Gabriel Gomez pick out Armando Cooper and his shot came off Luis Tejada's chest and into the net.

A penalty kick goal by Honduras' Andy Najar kept them in the game.

Honduras will face Haiti in their final Group A game on Tuesday, while Panama take on favorites U.S.

---------There are also several matches coming up in the Chinese Super League tonight.

Changchun Yatai will face Guangzhou Evergrande,Chongqin Lifan is set to play Henan Jianye,And Tianjin Teda will play against Shanghai SIPG..

Kick-off for these matches will be at 7:45 Beijing time tonight.

First Positive Doping Test Appears in Tour de FranceItalian cyclist Luca Paolini has been provisionally suspended from the Tour de France after failing a doping test for cocaineThe announcement by the International Cycling Union came yesterday after the sample collected 3 days before tested positive.

The 38-year-old Ghent-Wevelgem classic winner is one of the lieutenants of top sprinter Alexander Kristoff from Norway.

Cocaine is a stimulant banned in competition.

Entertainment'Tiny Times 4', 'Forever Young' Dominate Chinese Box Office, 'Minions' Looks at Mighty 118 Mln USD in North AmerciaComing-of-age films 'Forever Young' and 'Tiny Times 4' are dominating the Chinese box office.

'Forever Young' took in more than 100 million yuan in its opening day yesterday, joining 'Tiny Times 3', 'Tiny Times 4' and 'Breakup Buddies' to reach the 100 million yuan mark for 2D movies.

'Tiny Times 4', opening one day earlier than 'Forever Young', continued its power, grossing more than 200 million yuan in just two days.

So far, the 'Tiny Times' franchise has already reaped north of 1.5 billion yuan in the Chinese box office.

Despite the big revenues, both films have not been well received among viewers.

'Forever Young' is rated 4.2 out of 10 on mtime.com, an IMDB-like site in China.

'Tiny Times 4' scores even lower at just 3.2.

Meanwhile in North America,Animated movie 'Minions' is projected to be heading for a mighty 118 million dollars opening weekend.

The film follows the minions as they look for a new master by attending Villain-Con in Florida.

Its voice cast include Sandra Bullock, Pierre Coffin and Michael Keaton.

The 'Despicable Me' spinoff movie is on track to be the fourth film in North America to debut above the 100 million mark, following 'Fast and Furious 7', 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' and 'Jurassic World'.

Internationally, the animation has crossed the 200 million dollars mark.

With a budget of only 74 million dollars, 'Minions' will be exceedingly profitable for Universal Studios.

' Walking Dead' Releases First TrailerA full trailer has been released for the upcoming sixth series of AMC's hit zombie drama 'The Walking Dead'

The nearly four minute long clip was debuted at this year's Comic Con. The trailer shows Rick and other survivors coming across a possible challenge from his long-lost friend for the control of a safe heaven.

The new season won't premiere until October however zombie fans can look to its spinoff for some relief.

AMC has announced a release date for the six-part spinoff 'Fear the Walking Dead', which takes place in Los Angeles before the outbreak of zombies.

The show will air on August 23rd with a 90-minute long series premiere.

Jennifer Lawrence to Star in Love Story 'Rosie Project'

Oscar-winning actress Jenifer Lawrence has signed up to star in romantic dramedy 'Rosie Project'.

The film tells the story of a socially inept genetics professor who sets up a scientific survey to find a perfect mate.

Sony's subsidiary Columbia Pictures is currently developing the project.

Lawrence has already signed a contract to star in Sony's sci-fi romance story 'Passengers' which also features Chris Pratt.

The directors behind the 'Lego Movie' had agreed to direct the film however they bowed out after taking on the Han Solo 'Star Wars' movie.

Ariana Grande Releases New Apology Video over Donutgate"I'm not here to make any excuses or justify my behavior, because I can't, I'm just here to apologize."US pop singer Ariana Grande has released a video to apologize once again for her behavior in a donut shop in California.

Security footage obtained by US showbiz site TMZ shows Grande and her friend taking turns licking donuts they didn't purchase when they thought no one was looking.

The 22-year-old singer was also heard saying "I hate Americans. I hate America."The video apology comes after she issued a widely criticized statement which mainly focused on child obesity.

The singer posted a video on YouTube to apologize 'One Last Time'.

"I just wanted to make a video to apologize again for the whole doughnut fiasco and craziness because I feel like the apology that I posted, I was...I like kind of missed my opportunity to actually sincerely apologize and express how I was feeling because I was too busy preaching about my issues with the food industry, which is, like, not, I feel like, relative. I feel like I could have expressed myself in a different way, so here I am, apologizing again."Grande said she will learn from her mistakes and become a positive influence on her fans.

weatherBeijing will see some clouds tonight with a low of 24 degrees Celsius; sunny tocloudy tomorrow with a high of 37.

Shanghai has moderate rain tonight with a low of 24; rain continues tomorrow with a high of 28.

Chongqing has clear sky tonight with a low of 25, sunny tomorrow with a high of 36.

Lhasa will have showers tonight with a low of 12, tomorrow overcast with a high of 24.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, light rain tomorrow, 34.

Kabul, cloudy, 32.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney, light rain with a high of 13.

Brisbane, sunny day with a high of 15.

Perth, sunny, 16.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will be sunny with a high of 11 degrees Celsius.

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

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

This year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit wrapping up in the Russian city of Ufa....

In Sports.... China beating Italy in the Volleyball world cup qualifying stages.....

Office.....

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