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

Coming up on the program this evening...

China's ambassador to the United States is out promoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's forthcoming trip to the US in September.

Turkey's President has arrived here in China for the first time since taking over in his new position.

New reports are emerging out of Afghanistan suggesting the founder and leader of the Taliban is dead.

In Business.... China's central bank moving to make it easier for foreign investors to get into the Chinese bond market.

In Sports.... China continuing to medal at the FINA world aquatics championships.

And in Entertainment... a ballet based on a Tang-dynasty epic is set to debut this week in Shanghai.

Top NewsChinese President Xi to visit US in SeptemberAnchor:

China's ambassador to the United States has been taking time to promote Chinese President Xi Jinping's forthcoming trip to the United States.

CRI's Xie Cheng has more.

Reporter:

China's ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, has been expanding on what we can expect from Xi Jinping's trip to the US in September as part of a speech at a reception ahead of the August 1st anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army.

"Highlights abound along the entire visit. Systematic thought has been put into his schedule and activities in the US. This year not only marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of UN, it's also the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II. As such, there are so many important events, and top leaders will show up. President Xi Jinping will be among them."Cui Tiankai says numerous organizations and think-tanks have sent out requests for Xi Jinping to speak to them.

He says they're doing their best to try to fit as many in as they can.

"We think its great that the President has been invited to various places. But admittedly, it does give us a headache when trying to make up his schedule, given that his time in the US will be limited. It's going to be very difficult to fulfill every request. But we have been trying to coordinate events where everyone can hear President Xi Jinping talking about China's development and the China-US relationship. We will try to make that happen."As part of his time in the US this September, Xi Jinping is set to meet with US President Barack Obama.

The two are expected to have candid and in-depth discussions on a wide-range of topics, including areas of bilateral and multilateral areas of concern.

For CRI, I am Xie ChengTurkish President meets Chinese PremierTurkish President Recep Erdogan has met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

Erdogan arrived in China earlier this Wednesday.

He is also due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As part of his time in China, Erdogan is expected to oversee the signing of several agreements in areas including transportation, energy and telecommunications.

The purchase of a Chinese-produced long-range surface-to-air missile system is also going to be under discussion.

Turkey agreed to buy the system from China 2-years ago.

However, the multi-billion US dollar agreement has been held up over concerns in NATO about the compatibility of the weaponry with NATO's current systems.

Chinese Premier Encourages Innovation in Science and TechnologyAnchor:

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is pressing for more integration in the areas of science, technology and the economy.

CRI's Huang Shan explains.

Reporter:

Premier Li Keqiang says China should consider science and technology as a primary productive force.

"Scientific and technological innovation to a large extent determines the future of China's development strategy. In history, we have missed several technological revolutions. At present, we must put innovation at the core of the country's comprehensive development, and thus restructure our competitive advantages."Stressing the country's "Internet Plus" campaign for better digital infrastructure, Premier Li encourages enterprises and individuals to pool funds and knowledge.

Internet Plus is a development campaign raised by the premier earlier this year.

The goal to it is to integrate the Internet and traditional industries through online platforms and IT technology, in an effort to help the country's economic restructuring.

The premier says the government will ensure a fair and open environment for sci-tech businesses, and further cut red tape to help meet these goals.

Along with this, experts suggest effort should be made to improve innovation abilities in western China. Currently, most science and education resources are concentrated in more developed regions, such as Beijing and Shanghai.

Xie Yi, an inorganic chemist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, gives her suggestions.

"I think the government can distribute some important scientific engineering projects and national laboratories in major cities in western and central China where conditions permit it. By this means, the regions' capacity for independent innovation can be significantly enhanced. Meanwhile, this can provide long-term, stable support for science, technology, and talented professionals."The suggestions were made at a symposium on science and technology strategy, which is to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of China's top scientific think tanks, the Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Meeting with members from the think tank, Premier Li said scientific and technological personnel are the core driving force of innovation.

"Scientific and technological personnel ought to be among the higher-income groups in society, as they have played a pivotal and irreplaceable role in creating social wealth. Along with measures protecting incomes of people involved in basic research, the country will improve income distribution to enable personnel to become well-off through their inventions. This action can stimulate their innovation power."For CRI, I'm Huang Shan.

China highlights upcoming China-ASEAN Expo, Business and Investment SummitAnchor:

Chinese officials putting together this year's China-ASEAN expo in Guangxi are suggesting the internet is going to be one of the main focuses of the event.

CRI's Guo Yan has more.

Reporter:

Yu Ping, vice chair of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, says this year's event in Guangxi's capital, Nanning, will be focused on the promotion of e-commerce.

"This year's business leaders forum will highlight the connectivity of China-ASEAN e-commerce and logistics. Discussions will focus on the role of e-commerce and logistics in our building of the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century and China-ASEAN Free Trade Area"The creation of a China-ASEAN e-commerce network is also expected to be finalized at this year's event.

Yu Ping says a number of Chinese e-commerce firms are already getting involved.

"We will try to build a China-ASEAN e-commerce network within the framework of the summit. Chinese e-commerce giants will be involved to offer an online platform for the enterprises in the region, promoting the multilateral economic cooperation."The companies to be involved have not been named.

Economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN countries is continuing to rise, despite the current economic slowdown.

Trade spiked more than 8-percent last year, and is also up 1.6-percent through the first half of this year.

Chinese vice-Commerce minister Gao Yan notes the 10 countries which make up ASEAN account for a significant amount of trade with China.

"The trade between China and ASEAN reached 480.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, with the year-on-year growth rate being 8.23 percent, which is 5 percent higher than the growth rate of China's total foreign trade last year. The trade between China and ASEAN reached 224.38 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, up 1.6 percent year on year. The trade with ASEAN accounts for 12 percent of China's total foreign trade."Gao Yan also says mutual investment continues to grow.

"The two-way investment between China and ASEAN exceeded 130 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2014. ASEAN member countries invested more than 90 billion U.S. dollars in China. Meanwhile, China's investment in ASEAN member countries also saw rapid growth. After 2010, China's investment in ASEAN countries accounted for more than 60 percent of our country's total outbound investment."This year's summit in Nanning, which will run for 4-days, is also due to include a forum involving Chinese companies and leaders from Thailand, which is this year's honored guest at the meeting.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.

Beijing's 2022 Bid Highlights SustainabilityAnchor:

The International Olympic Committee has begun a series of meetings this week, which are set to culminate with a decisive vote on Friday to decide whether Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan will host the 2022 Winter Games.

CRI's Qi Zhi has more.

Reporter:

The International Olympic Committee's executive board meetings have started in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Ahead of the final vote on the 2022 Games, IOC President Thomas Bach noted that high quality venues and facilities as well as plans for sustainable development are key to hosting a successful Olympics.

Beijing's bid team has shown confidence that the Chinese capital has unique advantages in these areas.

Gui Lin, an official with the bidding team, says Beijing takes athletes' needs into consideration when venues are planned and designed.

"As the host of the 2008 Olympic Games, we are fully aware of athletes' desire to save time as much as possible. For instance, the Olympic village should be close to venues or railway stations, but not too close; otherwise, it will be too noisy. Therefore, we made a proper arrangement for that."According to Beijing's bid plan, all the ice events will be held in existing venues.

Retired Olympic champion Shen Xue says the existing venues are among the best of their kind in the world.

"When we were athletes, all the Chinese figure skaters conducted their daily training in domestic facilities, except for some overseas special training. Our facilities in the country are leading in the world in terms of hardware and software."In response to IOC calls for sustainability in future Olympics, Beijing's bid plan includes not only the re-use of existing venues from the 2008 Olympic Games in downtown Beijing, but also the full use of infrastructure.

Wang Hui, spokeswoman for the Beijing's bid committee, takes the high speed railway linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou as an example.

"The planning of the railway linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou had been made before. Actually, it is a part of a rail between Beijing and Baotou, a section of which has been completed. Some people believe Beijing is building the high speed rail line especially for the Winter Olympics; on the contrary, we chose Zhangjiakou as the site for snow sports partly because of the previously planned high speed rail."The final vote will be held on July 31 to determine which city will host the 2022 Winter Games. There are two bids in the running: Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan.

For CRI, I am Qi Zhi.

Chinese navy conducts drill in South China SeaA live-fire exercise has taken place as part of the Chinese navy's current drills in the South China Sea.

More than 100 vessels, dozens of aircraft and missile launch battalions have taken part, firing off dozens of missiles and torpedoes.

Guo Yujun, head of the Chinese Navy's South China Sea Fleet, says the drill is meant to increase their troops' combat-readiness.

"We used reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, interference and anti-interference, real-time monitoring and assessment all the way through the drill. We also made breakthroughs in intercepting supersonic anti-ship missiles with surface ships under anti-submarine circumstances."The Chinese navy has been taking steps to try to reassure the world community that its drills are not a threat, noting the drills are conducted on an annual basis.

This year's drills are taking place off the east coast of Hainan.

Shopping mall, escalator maker held accountable for woman's deathInvestigators are blaming both a shopping mall and an escalator manufacturer for the death of a woman in a freak accident in central China on Sunday.

The woman died after falling through a gap that opened at the top of an operating escalator in a shopping mall in Hubei.

A subsequent investigation has determined the shopping mall failed to take proper saftey steps after the panel at the top of the escalator was discovered to be loose.

That discovery was made just 5 minutes before the fatal accident.

The investigation is also laying blame on the escalator manufacturer for a design flaw in its product.

The company's products have already been pulled from service across Hubei.

It's not clear what punishments may be given to the company, or to the shopping mall and its staff.

Chinese officials sacked after flight arson attemptTwo officials have been removed from their posts after an arson attempt left two people hurt on a flight last week here in China.

At the same time, operations at the airport in the city of Taizhou in Zhejiang have been suspended.

A passenger, armed with a knife, tried twice to set a fire on a flight from Taizhou to Guangzhou.

It's being reported the suspect may have used gasoline to start the fire.

The suspect was subdued by the air crew and passengers.

The Shenzhen Airlines flight landed safely in Guangzhou.

It's not clear what the suspect's motivation was.

Authorities are now working to try to determine how exactly the passenger was able to smuggle a knife, gasoline and a lighter on to the flight.

Afghanistan's Mullah Omar dead: ReportsIt's being reported the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, has died.

The BBC is quoting Afghan government sources as saying Omar has been dead for the past 2 or 3-years.

The Afghan Taliban has yet to comment on the report, but says it will be doing so sometime this Wednesday.

Reports have been circulating for some time that Mullah Omar was dead.

However, this is the first time Afghan government sources have reportedly confirmed it.

Mullah Omar is credited with helping found the Taliban movement during the chaos of the Afghan civil war in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

Little is known about his actual background, other than he was a member of the Afghan Mujahadeen, and lost one of his eyes during a battle against Soviet forces during their occupation of Afghanistan.

Omar's Taliban, or student, movement eventually grew to take control of Afghanistan from 1996 until its ouster in late 2001 during the US-led invasion, after which Omar went into hiding.

The US government has a 10-million US dollar reward out for his capture for harboring al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan.

Pakistan Police Kill Feared Sunni Militant LeaderPakistani police say they've killed one of the country's most-feared Sunni militant leaders.

It's believed Ishaq and 13 others were killed in a mysterious pre-dawn shootout.

He was being transferred to a different prison when the police convoy was ambushed in an apparent attempt to free him and other prisoners.

However, Ishaq and over a dozen other inmates were killed in the attack.

Two of his sons and one of his deputies have also been killed.

Malik Ishaq is believed to be the mastermind behind years of sectarian attacks against Pakistan's Shiite minority.

Somalia hotel bomb attack victims recall the horrible experienceSurvivors of Sunday's massive bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, are speaking out about it for the first time.

"I never thought that the truck would blow up. At that time, I was in a bus with about 20 other people, which was just passing by the Jazeera Palace Hotel. We saw the truck crash into the outside wall of the hotel and explode. It was such a huge explosion. I thought the sky was coming down. Then came a burst of gunfire."The massive bombing left 15-people dead, including a guard at the nearby Chinese embassy.

Around 50 others were seriously hurt.

Somali militant group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility.

The blast in Mogadishu has many people in the city on-edge.

"I don't want to talk too much about Al-Shabaab, because they hide in the crowd and they may suddenly have their eye on you. For the sake of my safety, I don't want to talk about them."The bombing in Mogadishu is the latest in a string of attacks launched by al-Shabaab in recent weeks against targets in Somalia and neighboring Kenya.

Kenya has been a target for its support of the African Union-led attacks against the group, which used to control large swaths of the country during the two decades Somalia didn't have a central government.

UN Aid Chief Blames warring parties in YemenThe head of the UN's humanitarian division is warning of a 'catastrophic' situation in Yemen.

Stephen O'Brien says none of those involved in the civil conflict in Yemen observed the now-concluded 5-day ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid to make it into the country.

"The dire humanitarian situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate rapidly. With 80 per cent of the population of about 26 million people in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance and more than 1,895 civilians killed by fighting since March."The United Nations is warning of a severe shortage of food, medicine and fuel across most parts of Yemen.

Forces loyal to ousted President Abd-Raboo Mansour Hadi announced the creation of a 5-day humanitarian pause after regaining control of the southern port city of Aden from the country's Houthi rebels.

However, fighting has been continuing across many parts of the country since the humanitarian ceasefire began on Sunday.

Yemen's Shiite Houthi forces took control of much of the country earlier this year, prompting Sunni-dominated Gulf Arab countries to begin a bombing campaign to try to keep the rebels from completely taking over.

Cameron pushes for 'transparency' in UK property marketBritish Prime Minister David Cameron says his government is going to demand more transparency from foreign firms who investing in the UK property market.

Cameron says they need to tighten their scrutiny to ensure dirty money isn't being laundered in the UK property market.

"I'm determined that the UK must not become a safe haven for corrupt money from around the world. We need to stop corrupt officials or organised criminals using anonymous shell companies to invest their ill-gotten gains in London property without being tracked down."Concerns are being raised in the UK that rising property prices are being fuelled by corrupt cash.

More than 36-thousand properties in London are owned by offshore companies.

Under new rules being considered, foreign firms wanting to bid for British government contracts may also have to publicly state who their owners are.

World's First Bilateral Hand Transplant Done on ChildAnchor:

Surgeons in the US have achieved a major medical breakthrough.

Doctors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have successfully performed the first ever bilateral hand transplant on an 8-year- old boy.

CRI's Victor Ning has more.

Reporter:

Surgeons at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), joined by colleagues from Penn Medicine, recently completed the world's first bilateral hand transplant on a child. Earlier this month, the surgical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto eight-year-old Zion Harvey.

Dr. L. Scott Levin, Director of the Hand Transplantation Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, led a multidisciplinary team of 40 medical practitioners to complete to surgery. Dr. Levin said at a press conference earlier this month that the success of the operation was a major breakthrough in the field of restorative surgery.

"I'm going to share with our audience this afternoon a huge step forward in transplantation, the world of transplantation in pediatric surgery, in this relatively new field called vascularized composite allo transplant, which is the transplant of hands and in other cases faces. And it's a huge step forward in the movement of reconstructive surgery and now what we call restorative surgery. "The recipient of the transplant, Zion Harvey, is an eight year old from Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of two, Zion underwent amputation of his hands and feet and a kidney transplant following a serious infection.

Zion is a bright and precocious eight-year-old who has said he cannot wait to someday throw a football. A happy and outgoing child, he has adapted well to life without hands, learning to eat, write and even play video games. He says he'd be ok even if the surgery did not go well.

"It wouldn't matter to me because I have supporting family, supporting cousins, supporting grandparents. So if it didn't go well I would have my family to go back on."Although the surgery was successful, Zion does not have use of his hands yet since it could take up to eight months for the nerves in his fingers to regenerate. Zion has prosthetics for his feet and can walk, run and jump with complete independence.

Doctors said Zion's successful kidney transplant previously helped with his hand transplantation because he was already taking medication to stop his body from rejecting his kidney.

The world's first hand transplant was performed in France in 1998. Multiple limb transplants on adults have been successfully done before, but a child's smaller blood vessels, tissue and nerves present more challenges.

Dr. Benjamin Chang, the co-director the Hand Transplant Program at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said the surgery was enormously complex and required close coordination from multiple teams.

"In the beginning of the operation we actually had four teams operating at the same time. And each of them had specific things they were supposed to do. So they had to find all the structures, put pre-made tags on them for every single structure that we'd have to repair and they would have to sew those on to the nerves, blood vessels, tendons etcetera. "Only a small number of potential donors are available every year, but Zion's doctors were able to find a suitable donor very quickly.

Doctors caution that Zion is only at the beginning of his journey. He currently has physical therapy daily and will have to rely on immuno-suppressant medication for life to stop his body from rejecting the new hands.

For CRI, I am Victor Ning.

World's Largest Radio Telescope to Start Assemble in GuizhouThe assembly of the world's largest radio telescope is now underway in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou.

Nearly 45-hundred reflector panels are being put together to form the dish.

Once completed, it's going have a diameter of around 500-meters.

This will be much larger than the current largest in the world, which is an American observatory in Puerto Rico.

Professor Xu Renxin with Peking University says the massive telescope in Guizhou will be able to detect radio transmissions from the edge of our known universe when completed.

"The electromagnetic spectrum is much wider than the range human beings can observe. The telescope will be able to capture what we can't see in the optical region or the X-ray wave band."A super-computer, which can do quadrillions of computing operations per second, is going to translate the data the telescope captures.

The original construction for the telescope began in 2011.

It's located in a natural, bowl-shaped valley in the southern part of Guizhou.

World's first surviving giant panda triplets celebrate their first birthdayThe only surviving giant panda triplets on-record have celebrated their 1st birthday.

All three are said to be healthy, each weighing in at around 30-kilograms.

Dong Guixin, manager of the park in Guangzhou which is home to the cubs, says the three are now starting to become more independent.

"Now that they are a year old, the triplets are more energetic and more independent. They no longer stick together. They have begun trying to stand up. They run up and down a lot, and are even naughty sometimes."Handlers at the zoo say the cubs are also starting to lose their baby teeth, meaning they're set to begin eating bamboo shoots and leaves.

The birth and survival of the triplets in Guangzhou a year ago is unprecedented.

There have only been 4 recorded cases of giant pandas having triplets.

At least one of the cubs died following the 3 previous births.

Headline newsTurkish President meets Chinese PremierTurkish President Recep Erdogan has met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.

Erdogan arrived in China earlier this Wednesday.

He is also due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As part of his time in China, Erdogan is expected to oversee the signing of several agreements in areas including transportation, energy and telecommunications.

The purchase of a Chinese-produced long-range surface-to-air missile system is also going to be under discussion.

Turkey agreed to buy the system from China 2-years ago.

However, the multi-billion US dollar agreement has been held up over concerns in NATO about the compatibility of the weaponry with NATO's current systems.

Chinese murderer of six sentenced to deathA court in Shanghai has handed down the death penalty to a man who went on a killing spree two years ago.

64-year old Fan Jieming has been sentenced to death for the murder of 6 people two years ago.

His rampage began after he beat a co-worker to death during a dispute at the chemical factory he worked at.

He then got hold of a hunting rifle, killing two more people outside the factory before returning and killing 3 more of his co-workers before police eventually tracked him down.

Afghanistan's Mullah Omar dead: ReportsIt's being reported the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, has died.

The BBC is quoting Afghan government sources.

The Afghan Taliban has yet to comment on the report.

Mullah Omar is credited with helping found the Taliban movement during the chaos of the Afghan civil war in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

The Taliban, or student, movement eventually grew to take control of Afghanistan from 1996 until its ouster in 2002 during the US-led invasion, after which Omar went into hiding.

The US government has a 10-million US dollar reward out for his capture for harboring al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan.

Muslim terrorist files fresh mercy plea day before hangingYakub Memon, the man sentenced to die by hanging tomorrow in India, has filed a new plea for mercy.

He's set to be put to death tomorrow for his role in the 1993 Mumbai bombings which left more than 250 people dead.

Memon is the only one of 10 people convicted of the massacre who has been sentenced to death.

The rest have had their death sentences commuted to life in prison.

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his original plea for clemency last year.

Memon has maintained his innocence throughout, maintaining that it was his brother and a mafia don who planned the attacks.

Both men have never been caught.

Biz ReportsStocksAnchor:

Turning now to business news.

First a look at the numbers from across the Asian markets to close out this Wednesday evening.

Joining me on the desk is CRI's Wang Mengzhen.

Reporter:

China's A-share market has rebounded following two-days of declines on the back of regulators promising more support for the market.

China's Securities Regulator says it has started probes on the massive sell-off on Monday, which led to an over 8-percent plunge in Shanghai.

This is the worst one-day hit the market has taken in some 8 years.

At the same time, securities regulators are also denying reports the China Securities Finance Corporation, the national margin trading service provider, has been pulled back from stabilizing the stock market.

At close,The Shanghai Composite Index gained 3.5 percent.

It still sits below 3,800 points.

Shenzhen Component Index gained 4.1 percent.

The ChiNext Index for growth enterprises gained 4.3 percent.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong stocks ended higher as well, with the Hang Seng rising half of a percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,Tokyo shares ended mixed today as investors' sentiment was dampened by weak earnings.

The Nikkei dipped 0.1 percent.

South Korea's KOSPI closed flat.

Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index also ended flat today.

Finally, Australia's ASX 200 surged 0.7 percent.

China welcomes foreign investors in bond market: central bankChina's central bank is moving to make it easier for other central banks, financial institutions and sovereign-wealth funds into the country's bond market.

Investors now only need to register with the People's Bank of China in order to trade bonds in the spot and forwards markets, conduct interest rate swaps and trade forward rate agreements.

They are also free to decide on the size of their respective investments.

Yin Zhongli with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says the move will help the domestic bond market.

"China's long-term national bond yield remains at around 3.5%. For foreign institutions, China's national bonds, especially long-term ones, are quite attractive since it has an over 100 basis points higher rate. In the short run, it will bring benefits for secondary bond market in China as it will bring a lot of capital into the country."Chinese regulators this month have also made it easier for international investors to get into China's interbank bond market.

PetroChina Suspends a natural gas contract with RussiaThe China National Petroleum Corporation, PetroChina, has reportedly decided to back-out of its contract with Russian gas giant Gazprom in the construction of a natural-gas pipeline.

The pipeline, the contract for which was signed in December, was to be built through Xinjiang.

Reports out of Russia are suggesting the deal has been scuttled because of the high prices being demanded by Gazprom, as well as the slowdown in demand for natural gas here in China.

The cancelling of the pipeline project has reportedly not affected the construction of a different pipeline from Russia coming into China, known as the eastern route.

It's construction began last month.

Insurance firms double their profitsNew analysis shows Chinese insurance firms have more than doubled their profits through the first half of this year.

Total profits for Chinese insurers have come in at 230 billion yuan, or some 37 billion US dollars.

This is up over 200-percent up year on year.

Profits for life insurers has surged 250 percent, while property and casualty insurers have seen their combined profits increase by around 150 percent.

The same analysis suggests these insurers have put nearly a quarter of their total capital into the A share market so far this year.

LME to Accept Renminbi as Collateral on Trading PlatformAnchor:

The London Metal Exchange is now accepting the overseas renminbi as use as cash collateral.

LME clearing has added the renminbi to its collateral currency list, which already includes the US dollar, the UK pound, the euro and the Japanese yen.

Chinese currency, which has been processed outside the mainland, is freely tradable.

For more on the latest step in the internationalization of the renminbi, CRI's Spencer Musick spoke earlier with Liu Baocheng, Professor at the University of International Business and Economics.

Back anchor:

That was Liu Baocheng, Professor at University of International Business and Economics, speaking with CRI's Spencer Musick.

Microsoft rolls out Windows 10 operating system in JapanMicrosoft has begun rolling out its new operating Windows 10 system.

Windows 10 is the follow-up to Windows 8.

Microsoft skipped Windows 9.

The company says the new OS has retained, fused and improved upon the best features of Windows 7 and 8.

The latest operating system is designed to work across different hardware platforms, including personal computers, tablets and smartphones.

The software update will be free for a year before users will have to pay.

Ford warns China car sales likely to fall, 1st time in 25 yearsFord is warning of declining sales in China this year.

This would be the first time this has happened since 1990.

Ford is forecasting its sales may come in somewhere between 23 to 24-million units in China this year.

This would be down from the 24-million units sold last year.

The company is pointing to the slowdown of the Chinese economy as the main reason.

Chinese joint-venture FAW-Volkswagen is reporting a more than 11-percent drop in vehicle sales through the first half of this year.

Cathay Pacific fined for illegally flying passenger to New ZealandHong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has been hit with a fine by a court in New Zealand for allowing for a passenger on the no-fly list to board a flight to the country.

Cathay Pacific has been fined around 43-hundred US dollars for failing to get approval to allow the passenger to fly into New Zealand.

The passenger himself managed to get on to a Cathay Pacific flight after originally being denied boarding on a previous flight from Bangkok.

It's the second time Cathay Pacific has been fined for breaking New Zealand's immigration laws.

SportsFINA World Championships Update and RecapStarting things out with diving action from the FINA World Championships in the Russian city of Kazan:

Just finishing up, it's the 10-meter women's platform diving prelims:

And China leads the pack at first and second--with diver Ren Qian in the lead at the end of the preliminary eliminators at 411.40 points.

In second is her compatriot, Si Yajie, who scored 377.75 total points.

In third is Malaysian diver Pandelela Rinong anak Pamg, who scored 363.55 points.

Getting underway at about 8pm, Beijing time, are the 10-meter women's platform semi-finals.

Also happening later tonight;it's the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform team diving events;and the women's solo free synchronized swimming event.

In action from yesterday,Chinese diving duo Qin Kai and Cao Yuan won the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard event.

The two had a close battle with Russian pair Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuzentsov, who led at one point of the competition.

But the Chinese edged their Russian counterparts by 12 points and clinched the title.

Cao Yuan says being prepared helped them persevere to get gold:

"We anticipated every possible scenario before the match. And we were determined to do our best on each maneuver. It is how we should tackle all matches, no matter what happens, we have to fight to the very end. "It is Qin's fifth-straight title in the event and the first for Cao.

In other action,Italy's Tania Cagnotto ended China's sweep in gold medals by winning the women's one-meter springboard.

Int'l Champions Cup RecapIn football action from the International Champions Cup:

Premiere League champs Chelsea beat La Liga winners Barcelona 4-2 on penalties after their International Champions Cup game finished 2-2 on Tuesday.

The English Premier League side took the lead in the 10th minute when Eden Hazard weaved his way into the box before dispatching past Marc Andre Ter Stegen.

It was a very open game, but remarkably it remained 1-0 going into the break.

Luis Suarez evened things up for Barca.

Sandro then put the Catalans in the lead at the 66th minute. Chelsea answered with a Gary Cahill header to equalise in the 85th minute.

In the shootout, Alan Halilovic missed Barcelona's second spot kick and their third, taken by Gerard Pique, was saved by Courtois.

Loic Remy scored the winning penalty as Chelsea clinched the shootout 4-2.

And in the day's other match:

Portuguese side Benfica beat their Mexican hosts Club America 4-3 on penalties after their uneventful International Champions Cup match finished 0-0.

Tennis: Nadal Wins 1st Match After Wimbledon LossIn tennis,Rafael Nadal has won his first competitive match since his early exit from Wimbledon, beating Fernando Verdasco in three sets at the Hamburg Open.

Nadal recovered from his sluggish form in the first set, which he lost 6-3, to win 6-1 in each of the next sets.

It was an important victory for the tournament's top seed.

"It was a very important victory. For my mentality it was important to finish a match better than how I started. To be able to make that change during the match, it's been a very positive thing for me and (I'm) just happy the way I came back."In other action from round one,Tommy Robredo rallied to a four-set win over Alexander Zverev,Benoit Paire beat home favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets.

In women's tennis action at the Baku Cup:

Chinese player Lin Zhu has been ousted after going down 6-6, 0-6, 6-3 to Croatia's Donna Vekic.

And China's Yang Zhaoxuan is out after losing in straight sets to Russian Margarita Gasparyan.

Golf: Tiger Woods Reflects on "Frustrating" PGA Tour SeasonIn golf news:

Time is fast running out for Tiger Woods to salvage what he describes as a "frustrating" PA Tour season after he missed three cuts, withdrew from a tournament, and had just one top-25 finish in eight starts.

The former world number one has plummeted to a previously un-thought-of 266th in the rankings, making him ineligible for next week's elite WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, where he has triumphed a record eight times.

Woods attributes his woes to a "perfect storm" of trying to work through the latest swing change of his career while still recovering from back surgery, but he said on Tuesday things were "starting to come together".

"It's frustrating not to be able to win golf tournaments. I'm not really there in contention very often and so that part is frustrating but I know how close it feels and I know I just need a couple of shots here and there and it turns the tide and every time I've had those opportunities I haven't done it. I haven't capitalized on it. People don't realize how close it is from someone winning and someone making the cut."Woods knows his 2015 campaign could end earlier than usual since his poor form has ruled him out of the four season-ending FedExCup playoff events.

NFL: Tom Brady 4-Game Suspension Upheld by NFL CommissionerIn American Football News:

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday upheld the four-game suspension given to quarterback Tom Brady for his role in a scheme to deflate the footballs in the AFC championship game that put the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.

The commissioner said the league discovered that the quarterback, a four-time Super Bowl champion, had destroyed his cellphone weeks earlier even though he knew investigators had requested access to text messages stored on the device.

NFL-hired investigator Ted Wills determined that Brady was complicit in a plan to deflate the footballs below league standards, a move that can make the ball easier to grip.

Brady has repeatedly denied knowledge of the deflation before the investigation. The quarterback's attorneys previously indicated that if the quarterback is suspended at all, they would take the case to federal court.

EntertainmentBallet Adaptation of Poem 'Changhen Ge' to Premiere in Shanghai"Echoes of Eternity", a modern ballet adaptation of the poem "Changhen Ge" is set to premiere tomorrow at the Shanghai Grand Theatre.

"Changhen Ge," or "The Song of Everlasting Regret" was written by Bai Juyi during Tang Dynasty, which lasted between the 6th and 9th century in China.

The poem is the tragic love story between imperial consort Yang Guifei and Tang Emperor Xuan Zong.

Xuan Zong was forced by a rebellion of Yang Guifei's family to put her to death, even though he was in love with her.

The show will move to Beijing in October after its run in Shanghai.

Chinese Box Office Surpass 5 Bln yuan in a Single MonthNew figures suggest the Chinese box office has, for the first time, generated more than 5-billion yuan in revenue in a calendar month.

As of today, Chinese theatres have taken in nearly 5.1 billion yuan.

China's box office has seen daily revenues north of 100-million yuan for 20 consecutive days.

This month has seen Chinese film "Monster Hunt" surpass "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" to 3rd on the overall box office charts.

"Monster Hunt" has taken in over 1.5 billion yuan in just 13 days.

The film is out at a favorable time, as the mid-summer blackout period is currently in-place.

This is when Hollywood titles are not allowed to open in Chinese theatres.

This year has seen the Chinese box office gross over 25-billion yuan so far this year.

Last year's total revenues came in at 29.6 billion yuan, which is expected to be surpassed sometime next month.

Tommy Lee Jones to star alongside Matt Damon in new Bourne filmIt's being reported Tommy Lee Jones has been tapped to take on a role in the next installment of the "Bourne" franchise.

Trade publication Variety is reporting Jones has been tapped to play a top CIA official in the new film, which will see Matt Damon return to reprise his role as Jason Bourne.

Variety is reporting shooting for the next 'Bourne' film is set to get underway later this summer.

It's expected to be released a year from now, on July 29th of 2016.

Matt Damon is returning to the role after skipping out on the last 'Bourne' movie in 2012.

Jeremy Renner, best known as Hawkeye in the Avengers franchise, was the lead in that film.

The 3 'Bourne' films Matt Damon has made have earened nearly a billion US dollars.

Michael Bay's Bio-pic '13 Hours' Debuts TrailerThe first trailer for Michael Bay's new film "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" has been unveiled.

Like most of Michael Bay's previous trailers, it features a lot of explosion and weapons-fire.

"13 Hours" is an adaptation of the 2012 attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya which left 4 Americans dead, including the US ambassador to Libya.

The film has been adapted from journalist Mitchell Zuckoff's book about the attack.

However, it focuses on the special-forces team sent into Benghazi to try to rescue the consular officials.

Republicans have long-accused the White House of covering up details of the attack, which took place just a few weeks before the 2012 Presidential election.

"13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" is scheduled for release on January 15th in North America.

Toronto Film Festival Lineup RevealedThis year's Toronto International Film Festival's lineup has been unveiled.

Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee's "Demolition", starring Jaky Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts, is going to open the 40th edition of the festival.

"Demolition" is the story of an investment banker whose life unravels after his wife dies in a car crash.

Vallee is the same director behind the Oscar-winning film "Dallas Buyers Club."Some of the stars set to attend the festival in Toronto include Oscar winners Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore.

Redmayne will be promoting his new film "The Danish Girl," which is the true-life story of one of the first people in the world to undergo a sex-change operation.

Julianne Moore will be pushing two of her new films.

This year's Toronto International Film Festival is set to run from September 10th to the 20th.

That’s it for this edition of the Beijing Hour...

China's ambassador to the United States is out promoting Chinese President Xi Jinping's forthcoming trip to the US in September.

Turkey's President has arrived here in China for the first time since taking over in his new position.

New reports are emerging out of Afghanistan suggesting the founder and leader of the Taliban is dead.

In Business.... China's central bank moving to make it easier for foreign investors to get into the Chinese bond market.

On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers, I'm Paul James in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.