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

Coming up on the program this evening...

The Chinese president delivers a major policy speech in Seattle to Launch his state visit in the US...

China and New Zealand have begun the process to upgrade the landmark Free Trade Agreement that was signed seven years ago...

European leaders have gathered in Brussels to talk about the ongoing migrant crisis...

In Business...China's economic watchdog defends the country's data behind its economic growth numbers...

In Sports...basketball action underway this evening at the Asian Championships in Changsha...

And in Entertainment...the new mission impossible movie has earned nearly 800 million yuan in China...

TopXi gives major policy speech in SeattleThe Chinese President has reaffirmed his government's commitment to economic reforms and to developing an open market.

Xi Jinping made the remarks during a major policy speech at a welcoming banquet after he arrived in Seattle on the US west coast on Tuesday.

The president responded to concerns from the international community about China's current economic situation and the development path it will pursue.

In particular, the president also highlighted the government's support for a transparent and open stock market.

"The duty of government is to ensure a fair, open market and adjust the market order and avoid panic from happening. This time, Chinese government took steps to stabilize the market and contained panic in the stock market. And that avoided a systematic crisis. Mature markets in various countries have tried similar steps. The Chinese stock market has reached the phase of self-recovery and self-adjustment."Xi Jinping said the Chinese economy will stay on a steady course with fairly fast growth, stressing that his government will speed up efforts to build an open market.

The president also called for the world's two largest economies to read each others' strategic intentions correctly and manage differences properly and effectively.

"Building better major-country relations with the U.S to prevent conflicts and develop mutual respect and win-win cooperation are the priorities of China's foreign policy. We are willing to deepen the understanding of each others' strategic development. We hope for more understanding and to avoid misunderstanding; we hope for more trust and less suspicion in order to avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation."On people-to-people exchanges, President Xi announced at the banquet that China supports the initiative of allowing a combined 50,000 Chinese and American students to study in each others' countries over the next three years.

He also announced that the two countries will launch a China-U.S. Year of Tourism in 2016.

Interview on President's SpeechFor more on the President's speech, we spoke earlier with He Weiwen, Former Chinese Economic and Commercial Counselor in New York and San Francisco.

China Signs Deal to Buy 300 Boeing AircraftCommercial Aircraft Corporation of China has signed a cooperation document with Boeing company, which will see the plane manufacturer build its first overseas aircraft completion center in China.

The center, mainly producing the 737 model, will be operated by a joint venture.

The plane maker has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding with China's top economic regulator, the NDRC, to further cooperate in the civil aviation industry.

Meanwhile several Chinese companies have signed purchasing agreements with Boeing.

China Aviation Supplies, ICBC Financial Leasing, and China Development Bank Leasing will jointly buy 300 Boeing aircraft.

The deals were reached ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's planned visit to the Boeing company.

The Third China-US Governor's Forum Held in SeattleAnchor:

President Xi Jinping has also attended the Third China-US Governor's Forum in Seattle.

CRI's He Fei is in Seattle and has details.

Reporter:

As part of his schedule in Seattle, President Xi and six Chinese governors were joined by their US counterparts for the third China-US Governor's Forum.

President Xi stressed that China welcomes cooperation with United States at all levels.

"In the coming five years, China is expected to import 10 trillion US dollars of goods and its foreign investment will exceed 500 billion dollars. The number of outbound tourism will be over 500 million trips. We do welcome US states to strengthen cooperation with Chinese provinces and cities."Opportunities for collaboration on clean energy technology and economic development are among key points being discussed by both sides. Both American and Chinese delegations have signed agreements relating to economic development and renewable energy. The Governors' Clean Energy and Economic Development Accord establishes an agreement to collaborate on the commercialization of clean and renewable energy technologies. It also aims to promote energy efficiency, advance smart grid infrastructure, reduce transportation emissions, and improve air quality.

According to US statistics, China's average annual investment to the US in the past five years has exceeded 8 billion dollars, with the growth rate still accelerating. President Xi Jinping says the two sides can complement each other's work in the environment sector.

"China is vigorously promoting the construction of ecological civilization. In this regard, China has demands and the market, while the US boasts technology and experience. Cooperation in the environmental protection area at local levels should become an important aspect of the two countries to jointly tackle climate change and promote sustainable development."In addition to Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, state governors from California, Michigan, Iowa and Oregon are in attendance at the forum. China is represented by government officials from Sichuan, Chongqing, Zhejiang, Shandong and Shaanxi provinces.

Washington state and China have a long history of mutual cooperation. China is Washington's largest trading partner, creating trade revenues of some 29 billion dollars in 2014. Washington-based companies including Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks have extensive links with China and consider the country as a crucial future market.

Xi Jinping will be in Seattle until September 24th, and will then head to Washington D.C. for talks with US President Barack Obama at the White House on September 25th.

For CRI, I'm He Fei in Seattle.

President Xi's visit helps to overcome differences, benefit local economy: US observersAnchor:

Local political leaders as well as observers say President Xi's stay in Seattle will help the two countries better cope with their differences and bring more business opportunities to each other.

Our Su Yi has this story from Seattle.

Reporter:

This is the Chinese president's first state visit to the US since taking office in 2012.

Xi Jinping has met with local political leaders and made a key policy speech and is scheduled to meet with business leaders and visit a school in Tacoma city.

He is also set to hold talks with top business executives, including the CEOs of Apple, Microsoft and IBM.

Despite different views on some issues between the world's largest developing and developed country, China and the US have witnessed strong economic ties. They have also successfully cooperated on several key global issues, including climate change and the Iran nuclear negotiations.

Securing business deals is high on the agenda for the Chinese president's stop in Washington state. Sources close to the arrangements say the two countries are likely to seal more than 40 agreements during his entire trip, including a major climate change deal.

Former US ambassador to China Gary Locke says he expects several business deals to be sealed during President Xi's visit that will benefit the two sides, particularly Washington state.

"There is gonna be an agreement signed with one of the new Chinese companies, establishing a methanol production facility in long view area which is gonna employ thousands of workers permanently. There is a joint-effort to develop the next generation of nuclear power. That is a Washington state company. There will be an agreement signed there."Locke also says these projects will boost job creation and exports to China, as well as attracting more Chinese companies to the region.

Washington state sends a quarter of all of its exports to China.

Trade between the two countries reached to an all-time high of some 550 billion U.S. dollars last year, with bilateral investment surpassing 120 billion.

It is estimated that by 2022, China and the US will become each other's biggest trading partner.

Veteran journalist Sidney Rittenberg says mutual trust is the most important thing in nurturing the bilateral relations between the two countries.

"When people in the two governments dealing with each other can develop a certain amount of trust, not suspect motive of the other side, things were very well. When it is based on speculation about what is in the mind of the leaders on the other side, then we got into trouble."The Chinese president also has a personal connection with the state. In 1994, he signed a sister-city agreement between Tacoma and the capital of southeastern China's Fujian province, Fuzhou, where he served as city leader.

For CRI, I'm Su Yi reporting from Seattle.

The 5th Dialogue between American and Chinese College Students Wraps UpAnchor:

An annual dialogue between American and Chinese college students has taken place here in Beijing, with China Radio International moderating this year's event at our headquarters.

CRI's Luo Yu has more.

Report:

This year's event has asked the question: How much do we know about each other?'

In an attempt to answer it, college students from Chinese and American universities have sat down together to share their understanding of the Sino-US dynamic through their life at college.

William Weightman, a panelist from Middlebury College in the US, says he believes there is an outdated mindset in the United States about what is happening here in China.

"I think that it's quintessential that Americans improve their understanding of Chinese people, Chinese language and Chinese culture. As an American, I can say the biggest room for improvement is for understanding different political cultures that exist in our two countries. I think that there is a very strong misunderstanding of what the Chinese government is, how it functions, and how it makes decisions. Some of the current rhetoric you would hear in the United States is that China is authoritarian and the government doesn't represent the people. But I have talked to many Chinese people that have presented opposite opinions that have broadened my perspective and helped me think how government functions in different context."Wu Benyang studies at the University of International Relations in China.

She says she believes one of the biggest challenges for people in China is to better-understand how the political systems differ.

"The biggest impediment would be we think differently, so it would be hard for me to understand other people's viewpoints, like it would be hard for my country to understand their diplomatic policy from their perspective. Again that's why communication is so important between Chinese people and American people, especially the young people. And I'm very glad that I'm here."Elizabeth Woods studies at Georgetown University in Washington.

"I have a very optimistic view of the future of the Sino-US relationships. Just considering the fact that President Obama and President Xi are right now in Washington discussing current present issues. I think that it itself is a signifier that we will continue to have healthy relationship, open communication and I think just through dialogues such as this, we can ensure that China and America will in fact be friends in the future and unite on international issues."Teng Jimeng, Associate Professor of American Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University, says he believes its opportunities like the dialogue hosted by CRI that will help bridge the gap.

"To a large extent, I think this would promote a kind of the understanding, as well as two way commination, it's not just the one way. It is always the two way communication in between our country's young people. So I applaud it, I welcome this. I think this should be a continued project or program with the CRI."Xia Jixuan is the deputy President of China Radio International.

"I expect that in the future, more people will either take part in these discussions, or watch the discussions on different terminals, so they will be part of the discussion. They raise their questions for the panelists to discuss. Only by attracting more people into these activities can we promote better understanding between these two countries."This year's discussions, hosted by NEWS Plus Radio on China Radio International, have taken place in Beijing and Shanghai.

They've been broadcast worldwide through radio, television and social media sites.

For CRI, I'm Luo Yu reporting in Beijing.

FTA between China and New Zealand UnderwayChina and New Zealand are now in the process of upgrading the landmark Free Trade Agreement signed 7 years ago.

This was jointly announced during the 2015 New Zealand – China Partnership Forum kicking off today in Beijing.

More than 60 business, community, and government leaders from both sides are participating in this year's forum.

Citing achievements that have been made since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement, Wang Shouwen, Vice minister of Commerce in China, expressed his confidence for China- New Zealand cooperation in various areas in the future.

"At the moment, the second session of the joint assessment group with regard to upgrading China-New Zealand FTA is taking place in Wellington, China and New Zealand have also worked closely in ASEP (Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership) negotiations, regional comprehensive economic partnership negotiations "China and New Zealand signed their Free Trade Agreement in 2008. It was China's first FTA with a western nation.

However, declining exports to China this year have seen the country slip from New Zealand's largest to second largest trading partner.

Todd McClay, Associate minister of Foreign Affairs in New Zealand, says it's in the interest of both countries to update the existing FTA.

"In the first five years of the FTA alone, New Zealand and China trade more than the combined total of all previous bilateral trade ever. Indeed New Zealand today trades with China in just 8 hours what it did in the whole year of 1972. Our leaders have agreed November last year to update the FTA. We look forward to working with China to revise and modernize the FTA.

The first New Zealand-China Partnership Forum was launched in 2013, with a theme of "Strong Foundations, New Potentials".

This year, the forum deals with bilateral cooperation on food, tourism, people to people exchanges and investment.

Callin on China-New Zealand Commercial tiesFor more on China-New Zealand trade and commercial ties, CRI's Wang Mengzhen earlier sat down with Sir Donald McKinnon, Chairman of the New Zealand-China Council.

EU Holds Emergency Meeting Over Migrant CrisisEU leaders gathered in Brussels on Wednesday over emergency meetings on how to tackle the ongoing migrant and refugee crisis in Europe.

The EU has just agreed to relocate 120-thousand migrants and refugees to different countries across the continent. The move is intended to ease the strain on Greece, Italy and Hungary.

The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary voted against accepting mandatory quotas. The EU is scheduled to ratify the plan during Wednesday's meeting.

Frans Timmermans, First Vice President of the European Commission, said ahead of the meeting that registering all migrants remains a top priority for the EU.

"The most urgent thing we need to do is to make sure that we can fingerprint and register everyone who arrives so that we can make a distinction between people who have the right to asylum or potentially have the right to asylum, and people who are migrants - who don't have a right to asylum and should then not be in the asylum procedure."Nearly half a million migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year. This represents the largest flow of migrants on the continent since World War II.

On Tuesday evening, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande met in England to discuss how countries near Syria can help to take in more refugees. Both attended the EU meeting on Wednesday.

WeatherBeijing is overcast tonight with a low of 17 degrees Celsius; tomorrow still overcast with a chance of showers, a high of 25.

Shanghai, cloudy tonight with a low of 21; cloudy to rainy tomorrow with a high of 27.

Chongqing will see moderate rain tonight with a low of 21; still rainy tomorrow with a high of 24.

Lhasa will see showers tonight with a low of 10; cloudy to overcast tomorrow with a high of 22.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 33.

Kabul, also cloudy, 24.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will see slight rain with a high of 16.

Brisbane, sunny with a high of 21.

Perth, cloudy, 32.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will be wet with a high of 15 degrees Celsius.

Headline newsXi offers ways to build new model of major-country relationship with U.S.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the world's two largest economies to read each other's strategic intentions correctly and manage differences properly.

President Xi delivered his major policy speech at a welcoming banquet in Seattle on Tuesday.

He proposed that the two countries boost win-win cooperation and foster friendship between the two peoples, as part of his suggestions on building a new model of major-country relationship between China and the U.S..

The president also responded to concerns from the international community about China's current economic situation and the development path it will pursue.

President Xi said that China will stay committed to steady economic growth, reform, opening-up, rule of law, anti-corruption endeavors and the path of peaceful development.

China signs deal to buy 300 Boeing aircraftA group of Chinese companies has signed a deal with U.S. plane maker Boeing to buy 300 aircraft.

The deal was reached on Tuesday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the United States.

Meanwhile, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China has also signed a cooperative document with Boeing to build a 737 aircraft-completion center in China.

Wastewater cleaning finished at Tianjin blast siteSpecialists have finished removing wastewater from the site of the warehouse explosion in Tianjin.

Local authorities say the final 700 cubic meters of contaminated water was pumped out of a deep pond that formed following the blasts on August 12th.

Environmental protection personnel will step up monitoring of the soil at the site. Chemicals including tonnes of sodium cyanide were stored at the warehouse where the explosions occurred.

Workers are now restoring roads that were destroyed by the huge explosions, and a new green area covering 180-thousand square meters is being developed.

The Binhai New Area has launched safety inspections at companies that handle dangerous chemicals or goods.

Three prosecuted for killing panda in SW ChinaThree people have been prosecuted for killing a panda and trading its meat in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Wang Wenlin and Wang Wencai, brothers from Zhaotong City, allegedly killed the giant panda in late 2014. The third suspect, Li Kequan, participated in trading its meat and paws.

Pandas had not been spotted in Yunnan for centuries. After the killing, local authorities searched and concluded there may be more than one panda in the area.

Only about 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces.

Biz reportsStocksAnchor:

Time to check today's business news, starting with the closing numbers across the Asian markets. Joining us is Victor Ning.

Reporter:

Chinese shares sank on Wednesday after data showed prolonged weakness in the economy that renewed concerns about the country's growth prospects.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.2 percent to end at 3,116 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index is down one percent.

The ChiNext Index of growth enterprises closed virtually unchanged.

A preliminary Caixin survey showed on Wednesday that the flash China general manufacturing PMI plunged to a 78-month low of in September. We have more on this later.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 2.3 percent to touch its lowest level since September 8, with Citic Securities down 5 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,markets in Japan remain shuttered for the Autumn Equinox holiday and are set to reopen Thursday.

South Korea's KOSPI trimmed 1.9 percent.

Singapore's Straights Times plunged 0.8 percent.

And Finally, Australia's ASX/200 closed 2.1 percent lower.

China top economic regulator refutes doubts on growth data authenticityChina's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Wednesday defended the integrity of the country's data on economic growth for the first half of this year.

This is in response to assumptions that the government may have distorted growth data to make itself look good.

NDRC issued an online statement saying the 7-percent growth rate in the first half of the year is largely in line with forecasts from major domestic and international research centers such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the World bank.

In refuting claims that the GDP rate has been over-stated by one or two percentage points, the NDRC says slumping import prices have only limited impact on China's GDP calculation as the country now relies more on the service industry for growth.

Meanwhile, with China's economic restructuring, the country now consumes less energy and requires fewer goods. Therefore, economic indicators like power usage and freight volume are not as strong as they once were as indicators of the economy's health.

The commission says China's 7-percent expansion is solidly underpinned by stable economic fundamentals such as rising consumption, recovering investments and exports, as well as a steady job market.

'Negative list' to go nationwide in China in 2018Anchor:

The Chinese government has announced plans to implement its "negative list" approach to foreign investment across the country by 2018.

Authorities say this will go a long way toward making the Chinese market more accessible.

A "negative list" is an approach where specified areas are deemed off-limits to foreign investment.

Its considered much-less restrictive than a "positive list" approach, as anything not outlined on the "negative list" is available for investment.

A "negative list" system was first set up in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone 2-years ago.

For more on the "Negative List" plans, CRI's Spencer Musick earlier spoke with Professor Liu Baocheng from Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics.

Caixin flash China general manufacturing PMI hits 78-month low in SeptemberThe Caixin flash China general manufacturing PMI plunged to 78-month low at 47.0 in September.

This is down from 47.3 in August.

Readings have to be above 50 to indicate expansion.

He Fan, chief economist at Caixin Insight Group, believes the decline indicates the nation's manufacturing industry has reached a crucial stage in the structural transformation process.

He pointed out that weakening factory activity is tied to previous changes related to external demand and prices.

The flash index is published on a monthly basis ahead of final PMI data.

The estimate is based on approximately 85 to 90 percent of total PMI survey responses from over 420 manufacturers.

Central Bank: financial market data in AugustData from China's central bank shows the country had 2.1 trillion yuan, or 330 billion US dollars, of new bond offerings in August.

This is up 65 percent from a year earlier but down 7.7 percent from July.

On the currency market, total turnover is 45 trillion yuan in August, up 98.5 percent from a year earlier, but down 13.5 percent compared to July.

Meanwhile, trade volume in the Shanghai Stock market dropped 27 percent in August compared to a month earlier.

Insurance regulator to gain increased powerThe China Insurance Regulatory Commission will launch an electronic platform using big data technology and cloud computing to monitor and regulate the country's insurance agencies.

The regulator says the system will empower the commission in its crackdown on illegal activities such as misleading sales and illegal financing by insurance agents.

Development of the system will start by early next year, and will take three years to complete.

RMB5 bln fund set up to support emerging sectors in Beijing-Tianjin-HebeiA five billion yuan fund has been established in Tianjin to support the development of emerging industries mainly in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei.

The fund will focus on mergers and acquisitions in emerging sectors covering energy saving and environmental protection, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, new materials, next-generation information technology and high-end manufacturing.

The fund is sponsored by several investment companies including Tsinghua Asset Management Group.

Network traffic to be acumulatedMobile data plans in China will no longer terminate unused data at the end of each month.

Sina Technology is reporting that data plans will roll-over month to month starting from October.

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Industry and Information says fees for broad band and mobile networks will be reduced by 30 percent by the end of this year.

Huawei rolls out smart watch product in FranceChina's Huawei Technologies has announced in Paris that it will launch sales of its smart watch product in France.

Huawei released its smart watch, one of the company's wearable products, at the Mobile World Congress 2015 in March.

Huawei will cooperate with major French retailers to sell its watch.

The product is likely to be priced between 340 and 780 US dollars in France.

Sports Basketball Asian Championship updateBeginning with some live basketball action,China and Singapore are on the court in a Group C game at the Asian Championship in the central Chinese city of Changsha.

China boast Yi Jianlian in his prime and will be relying on his leadership throughout the tournament.

The International Basketball Federation says the inexperienced Chinese team have a height advantage.

China are grouped with Singapore, South Korea and Jordan in the 16-team championship.

Only the winner can automatically qualify for next year's Rio Olympic Games.

Second to fourth placed teams will enter the Rio qualifying tournament for three other berths.

In other action from earlier, Palestine beat the Philippines 75-73,Hong Kong tooke ou Kuwait 87-50,Defending champions Iran swept past Japan 86-48.

Chinese teenager joins Brazil's professional leagueIn football,Another Chinese player is to join an overseas club following the agreement between Guangzhou Evergrande and Real Madrid for the transfer of Zhang Linpeng.

Presidents of Evergrande and Real have agreed for Zhang to join the La Liga giants next year on loan.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Ma Sheng has joined Brazil's Botafogo on a two-year deal.

The club from the state of Sao Paolo are the current frontrunners in Brazil's Serie B. Ma will become the youngest Chinese player in Brazil's professional league.

Ma was first spotted two years ago at a training camp in Brazil and was selected for Botafogo's under 17 team.

The club acquired Ma as soon as he reached 18, the minimum age required for a player to be registered in Brazil's football league.

Gao Hongbo to coach at Dutch top flight clubFormer coach for China's national team Gao Hongbo will take up a coaching job in the Netherlands' top flight football league.

Gao has signed a one-year deal with ADO Den Haag as assistant coach.

The club will officially present Gao at a news conference to be held in Beijing tomorrow morning.

Forty-nine-year-old Gao will become the first Chinese coach to join a European football club.

Gao's move was made possible after a Beijing-based sports company became the biggest share holder at the Dutch club.

Gao was head for China's national team for 3 years starting from 2009.

He led the team to Asia Cup victory a year after.

He was with Chinese Super League's Jiangsu Shuntian until June of this year.

Lewandowski's record-breaking 5-goal helps Bayern beat WolfsburgElsewhere in football,Bayern Munich trashed serious title contenders Wolfsburg 5-1 in the Bundesliga.

Robert Lewandowski came off the bench and ran rampant with a record-breaking 5 goals in nine minutes.

The teams started from second and third places on the table behind Dortmund. Bayern were staggering and trailing 1-0 until the Polish striker was called up at half-time.

He first scored at the 51st minute and completed a hat trick in 3 minutes 22 seconds to record the fastest hat trick in Bundesliga history.

He then shot on goal twice more to become the fastest player to score five goals in a single game.

Lewandowski's outburst lifted the defending champions to top of the table having played one more game than Dortmund.

In other action, Berlin Hertha downed Cologne 2-0,Hamburg beat Ingolstadt 1-0,And newly-promoted Darmstadt edged Bremen 2-1.

Ning Zetao to Compete at 2015 FINA Swimming World CupIn swimming,World champion Ning Zetao has confirmed his participation at the forthcoming FINA Swimming World Cup event at the end of this month in Beijing.

The 22-year-old will be competing in the men's 50-meter butterfly.

"I have already begun my training and I will continue my training till the coming 6th Military World Games in South Korea. Once I hit the pool, I will go all out, no matter what the results will be."Ning Zetao won the men's 100m freestyle gold at the World Championships last month in Kazan.

He is the first Asian athlete ever to win the event at a World Championships.

The physically drained swimmer followed that up by only finishing 8th in men's 50-meter butterfly at the National Swimming Championships earlier this month.

Triple gold medalist Sun Yang, women's 50 meter backstroke winner Fu Yuanhui, and other medalists from the world championships will also splash in China's aquatics center the water cube.

Italy defeat Poland at FIVB World Cup to reach RioIn men's volleyball,Italy have reached Next year's Rio Olympic Games with a 3-1 win over Poland at the FIVB World Cup.

The win also keeps Italy's hope for winning the tournament alive.

Italy will win the world cup if Argentina defeat the United States in another game later today. That result will also send Poland to Rio.

Villumsen wins women's elite time trialIn cycling,New Zealand cyclist Linda Villumsen has won the women's elite time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in the US city of Richmond.

Villumsen completed the 30-kilometer course in 40 minutes, 29.87 seconds to claim victory.

It was the 30-year-old cyclist's first gold medal at the world championships.

"I just can't believe it, I just really can't believe it. I came here with a big motivation today and I had the best team around me and it was just an incredible feeling."The victory adds to her five other podium finishes and increases Villumsen's chances of going into Rio.

Rio cuts down on budgets for ceremonies: directorAs athletes are gearing up and competing for entry into the Rio Olympic Games, the director for the games' opening and closing ceremonies is working with a much smaller budget than that for the London and Beijing games.

Filmmaker and director for the ceremonies Fernando Meirelles estimated Rio will only spend one-tenth of what London did.

"The figures are really like 10 per cent of what London had. And what I was saying is that we are not complaining because I guess it would be a shame to waste what London spent in a country where we need sanitation, where education needs money. And so I am very glad that we're not spending money like crazy, we're being very reasonable and sensitive to the way we are spending money."Rio is spending about 10 billion US dollars in public and private money for the preparations.

EntertainmentMission Impossible Rogue Nation grosses $124 million at Chinese Box OfficeMission Impossible – Rogue Nation has grossed 791 million yuan ($124 million) at the Chinese box office.

The film has now beaten Interstellar to become the highest grossing 2D Hollywood film in the country.

Data from Chinese box office tracker Ent Group showed that from Monday, Rogue Nation is once again top of the box office. The film has been in a battle against the 'Minions' movie.

The fifth installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise follows Ethan Hunt played by Tom Cruise attempting to eradicate The Syndicate which is a rogue organization.

Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation opened in China on September 8 breaking the record for 2D first day figures with takings of $18 million.

Paul Rudd attends premiere of 'Ant-Man' in ChinaPaul Rudd and Peyton Reed walked the red carpet in Shanghai on a rainy Tuesday night for the Chinese premiere of "Ant-Man."Rudd stars as the diminutive title character in the superhero movie, based on the Marvel comic of the same name.

A conman recruited for the ultimate heist, he wears a super-suit which allows him to shrink in size but increase in strength.

The role is a departure for Rudd, who also co-wrote the film's screenplay.　Previously, he has starred in adult comedies including "The 40-Year Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," and "Dinner for Schmucks."The film also stars Michael Douglas as Ant-Man's scientist mentor, Dr. Hank Pym.

"Ant-Man" is officially released in China on 16 October 2015.

Jurassic World director gives details on sequelDirector of Jurassic World Colin Trevorrow says that the film's sequel will take the story to the next level.

During an interview with podcast Jurassic Cast, the director said that the audience will get to view a different kind of film compared to Jurassic World.

He said the movie would focus more on the main characters relationships with the dinosaurs and the dynamic created by bringing them back to life.

Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will reprise their roles. Meanwhile Colin Trevorrow will not return to direct the movie, instead taking up a role as the script's co-writer and executive producer.

Jurassic World is the third highest grossing movie of all time with global box office figures reaching over $1.6 billion.

The sequel to Jurassic World will be released on June 22, 2018.

One Direction announce new albumOne Direction announced on Tuesday that they are releasing an album at the end of this year.

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation that the band would be breaking up.

The album titled 'Made in the A.M' is set to be released on November 13. It will be the band's fifth studio album. One Direction have released one album a year since they formed on British talent show 'The X Factor'.

The announcement was made by the band during a video on Twitter .

It will be their first album without Zayn Malik who left the group in March. It wasn't the smoothest of departures with the singer and his former band mates becoming involved in heated exchanges over social media.

The band have been on tour for most of the year with the final dates scheduled for October 30 in England.

The band has sold over 65 million albums.

Robert De Niro walks out of interviewRobert De Niro has reportedly walked out of an interview with British entertainment magazine Radio Times complaining of 'negative inference' in the questions.

The actor was being interviewed as part of promotion for his new movie 'The Intern'.The film stars De Niro as an intern for a fashion website. It's received lots of negative reviews so far.

Emma Brockes who was interviewing the star, says he walked out after being asked about Tribeca being overrun by bankers and how he avoids falling into 'autopilot mode' during filming.

He claimed his reason for ditching the interview was because the questions were too negative.

'The Intern' is released in the US on September 25.

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

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

The Chinese president delivers a major policy speech in Seattle to Launch his state visit in the US...

China and New Zealand have begun the process to upgrade the landmark Free Trade Agreement that was signed seven years ago...

European leaders have gathered in Brussels to talk about the ongoing migrant crisis...

In Business...China's economic watchdog defends the country's data behind its economic growth numbers...

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