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

Coming up on the program this evening...

The International Monetary Fund has given a new full-year growth projection for China.

A leading Chinese researcher is suggesting the newly-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership will have only a limited impact on Chinese trade.

Officials in Africa are applauding the Nobel committee's decision to award its prize for medicine to a Chinese researcher.

Volkswagon is suggesting is current emission scandal is not going to mean job cuts at this point.

In Sports... the bottom of the men's draw at the China Open just its its biggest name.

TopIMF confident of China's GDP growth expectationsThe International Monetary Fund has issued a new projection, suggesting China's GDP growth is going to come in at a range of 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year.

IMF Chief Economist Maurice Obstfeld has made the suggestion in the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook report.

"There is China's transformation, the economy is rebalancing from exports and public investment to consumption, from manufacturing to services, this is both healthy and necessary in the longer terms but in the near term there are implications for China's growth and for its trading relationships with foreign countries."Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, the deputy chief of the IMF's research department, says the slowdown in China is something that has to take place.

"We think a slow down and a re-balancing in China are a necessary process. It is a necessary transformation. Clearly if you are a commodity exporter, the hit has been hard. We think it is, in a sense, an inevitable consequence of how the transformation in the Chinese economy is occurring."The IMF's latest global analysis is suggesting combined global growth of 3.1 percent this year, and 3.6 percent next year.

The projections are 0.2 percent lower than the IMF's earlier projections in July.

TPP Agreement will not have Major Impact on China's Foreign Trade: ExpertsChinese observers are suggesting the newly-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement will not have a major impact on Chinese foreign trade.

The new agreement signed among a dozen Pacific-rim partners will see a significant cut in tariffs.

Outside research has suggested this may end up costing China as much as 60-billion US dollars a year in foreign trade by 2025.

However, Zhang Jianping with the National Development and Reform Commission says he believes there will be ways to overcome the possible loss in revenue.

"China has already signed bilateral free trade agreements with two thirds of the TPP members. We can balance the negative effects of the TPP agreement to a degree. Also, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which includes 16 countries, including China, the 10-members of ASEAN, as well as Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India, will also help."The US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership was inked on Monday.

Its the largest free trade area of the world, covering some 40-percent of the global economy.

China is not a signatory to the new agreement.

Gao Hucheng: China Ready to Hold the 2016 G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in ShanghaiChin'a Commerce Minister says trade growth and investment will be on top of the agenda when China hosts the G20 summit in 2016.

Gao Hucheng has made the suggestion at the close of the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.

"China will, with other nations, make full consideration of various countries' wishes. We will actively lead construction of the global economic and trade system in an attempt to show our development is more inclusive. We're going to propose active ways in which we can cooperate in areas of trade, finance, trade assistance and capacity-building to promote inclusive, balanced and sustainable development."Through the meeting, G20 trade ministers have made a new call for freeing-up trade.

Global trade through this year has slowed for the first time in 4-decades.

The just-concluded G20 session has been held in advance of the G20 summit in Turkey next month.

China's forex reserves continue to fall in SeptemberChina's central bank says the foreign exchange reserves in China have declined by some 43-billion US dollars through this past month.

This has left the total forex supply in China at just over 3.5 trillion US dollars.

September's reduction is the 4th straight month of declines.

However, the 43-billion decline is not nearly as sharp as in August.

Two months ago, forex reserves dropped by a record 94-billion US dollars.

China's Population to peak in 2025A leading Chinese demographer is suggesting China's population may peak by 2025.

Zhang Juwei, head of Population and Labor Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says their analysis is suggesting the population in China is going to top out at 1.41 billion in 2025.

After this, analysis is suggesting the population in China will dip down to 1.3-billion by 2050.

Right now, there are around 1.37 billion people living in China.

The analysis by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is also suggesting the labor force will remain roughly stable until 2030, despite the aging population and low-fertility rate.

The analysis has been revealed at a meeting among Chinese and European officials about economic restructuring and changing employment structures earlier this week.

The projections are part of a series of background reports to be submitted to China's leadership for consideration as it designs its new national 5-year plan.

Music makes multiethnic friendship in XinjiangAnchor:

Today we bring an end to our series of reports on Xinjiang to mark this past week's 60th anniversary of the founding of the Autonomous Region.

In our final report, we bring you the story of a pair of men who, though coming from different ethnic backgrounds, have found a connection through music.

CRI's Xu Fei has more.

Reporter:

"Butterfly Lovers" is a renowned piece of classical Chinese music. Telling a tragic love story, the score is normally performed with a violin. This time, the presentation is played by ethnic Uighur instrument Aijieck.

The player, Eshanjan Turdi is a musician living in the city of Karamay in Xinjiang. When his performance was overheard by retired musician Ren Shuquan. The ethnic-Han musician loved Eshanjan's music and invited him to join his band.

Both Ren and Eshanjan worked as professional musicians in Xinjiang. Their love of music, particularly string music, sed to friendship despite the age and ethnic differences.

Ren says the Han people of the band learned a lot from their Uighur peers.

"The Twelve Muqams were basically new stuff for us. Our Uighure members wrote down the scores. Someone else did the translation so it was possible for Han members to practice. Uighurs don't need the score book. They can play anytime they want. It is like they were born for music and dance."Now, the band practices together at least once a week. Ten members are Han-ethnicity while 20 are Uighur. The Uighur members play the Aijieck and some other Xinjiang instruments fewer people know, like Tanbuer, Dutaer, Sataer and Rewaqu. The Han members play the Urheen, cello or flute. They have created something uniquely good.

Eshanjan says he also loves the tunes of Han music.

"I love it, especially the urheen. I play string music so I know. I like songs like Embroider A Golden Plait, Glowing Red Morning Star Lilies, The Jasmine Flower and The Flowers and Youngsters. I love the way urheen presents ethnic songs. There is a piece played together by Tanbuer, Dutaer, Dataer and urheen. It is pure and beautiful."Ren Shuquan says on the other hand the energy in the Uighur music makes their works more lively.

"Their tunes are more bright and faster. You will have the tendency to dance with it. But it has a lot of half-steps which makes it difficult to learn. To master these ethnic tunes, one has to practice his abilities of fingering, singing and listening."Their ethnic-fusion version of Embroider A Golden Plaque is now a regular piece.

Ren Shuquan says the fusion performance has also nurtured their audience.

"It definitely brings us closer. In the past, we only played traditional Han-ethnic tunes. But now things are different. They started to enjoy ethnic tunes.

Ren Shuquan says the friendship between Eshanjan and him brings them a lot.

"He is a professional so I can learn a lot from him about ethnic music. He always shows me the right way to play. So in a way, he is my teacher. It has nothing to do with age.

Eshanjan says he is really thankful he can have Ren as his best friend.

"He is the best in my eyes. He is 20 years older than me. We have something called 'friendship between generations'. He is broad-minded, gentle and generous. I have never seen him get angry. I like him so much."Not very different from the story of Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi, the story of these two musicians shows how once again people can be bonded by music despite everything else.

Back anchor:

CRI's Xu Fei reporting.

African Officials Applaud Chinese Pharmacologist's Winning Nobel Prize for MedicineAnchor:

The decision by the Nobel committee to award a Chinese researcher with this year's prize for Medicine is drawing praise from around the world, particularly in Africa.

CRI's Luo Wen explains.

Reporter:

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization's Africa Region, says Tu Youyou's development of a treatment for malaria has been a life-saver.

"As you know Malaria is one of the biggest killers of African people, particularly African children. As we were discussing the Millennium Goals last week in New York at the UN general assembly, it was acknowledged that African countries have made tremendous progress in reducing child deaths, especially in the last ten years. And it's my belief that this discovery and the access to this treatment made a huge contribution to reducing the deaths of African children and also pregnant mothers."Inspired by Chinese traditional medicine, pharmacologist Tu Youyou and her team discovered an anti-malarial agent in the plant Artemisia annua back in the 1960s.

Her research eventually led to the isolation of artemisinin, or Qinghaosu in Chinese, which is now used widely as an anti-malaria drug.

The fourth generation of the drug, which was developed by the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, was in the small island-nation of Comoros in 2007.

In just three months, the drug lowered the rate of malaria infections by 98.7 percent.

Professor Song Jianping with the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine says the drug has revolutionized malaria treatment.

"We want to help Africa find a quick solution to eradicate Malaria, and not just just a cure for the disease. If you treat one patient without removing the source of the infection, the treatment is not effective. So we have made adjustments to the treatment: from individual treatment to mass prevention, from killing asexual plasmodium parasite to killing both the asexual and sexual parasites."Comoros vice-President Fouad Mohadji says he knows first-hand how well the Chinese-produced treatment can work.

"Three members of my family had malaria. Every month people get hospitalized for malaria and it will cost at least 60 euros a month. Since 2007, our country started an anti-malarial program using artemisinin and the prevalence rate has dropped significantly. The program cut hospitalization rate for every household member from 42 percent to zero. This is a great achievement in public health as well as social development."Malaria is still a major public health problem.

It's estimated some 430-thousand people around the world die every year from the mosquito-borne virus.

90-percent of those deaths occur in Africa.

However, Chinese researchers are hoping the development of drugs through Tu Youyou's research will eventually bring that number to zero.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.

Work on DNA repair wins Nobel chemistry prizeSweden's Thomas Lindahl, along with Americans Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar have won this year's Nobel Prize for chemistry.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has given them the honor for their work on "mechanistic studies of DNA repair."Their work maps how cells repair damaged DNA - a process considered fundamental in human biology.

Chemistry is the third award in the Nobel lineup.

The Nobel committee has already announced the winners of physics and medicine.

Syrian army starts ground operation under Russian air coverThe Syrian military has reportedly begun ground operations against rebel-held areas in the central province of Hama under Russian and Syrian air force cover.

Syrian forces say the operation is primarily targeting jihadi groups in the northern countryside of Hama.

An alliance of several jihadi groups are said to operate out of the area being stormed.

This marks the first time the Syrian military has carried out a broad offensive under the direct support of Russian air power.

Australian Police Arrest 4 in Connection with ShootingPolice in Australia have detained 4 people in connection with the fatal shooting of a civilian police employee this past Friday.

The four, ranging in age from 16 to 22, have been arrested as part of their investigation into the killing of Curtis Cheng.

Cheng was gunned down on Friday as he was leaving his precinct office for the weekend by a 15-year old.

The teenager was later shot and killed by police.

Authorties believe the 4 suspects currently in custody are part of a group of young Islamic extremists living in the western part of Sydney.

New South Wales premier Mike Baird says last week's murder has put authorities throughout the state on heightened alert.

"We are in a new world. The risks that are emerging are new. We have to adapt to them, we have to respond, and we will, but certainly, my strong assurance to the people of New South Wales is that our schools are safe."The shooter, of Iranian descent, was not on the Australian government's watch-list of suspected supporters of Islamic extremism.

US Commander in Afghanistan Announces US Airstrike on Hospital as MistakeThe commander of US forces in Afghanistan has issued a statement, admitting US culpability in an airstrike this past week which hit a hospital in the city of Kunduz, killing over 20 people.

General John Campbell is describing this past weekend's airstrike on the hospital as a "Mistake.""On Saturday morning, our forces provided close air support to Afghan forces at their request. To be clear, the decision to provide aerial fire was a U.S. decision made within the U.S. chain of command. A hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. I must allow the investigation to take its course. I assure you that the investigation will be thorough, objective and transparent."The statement comes amid international condemnation of the strike, which left 22 dead and dozens others injured.

Among the dead are a 12 medical staffers volunteering for the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which was running the clinic.

The organisation is calling for a full and transparent investigation into how the "mistake" was made, suggesting the US government has been trying to deflect responsibility.

White House spokespersion Josh Earnest says a series of investigations are underway.

"The President has called for the kind of investigations that will yield a full accounting of what transpired. There is already underway an investigation being conducted by the Justice Department there are also investigations that are ongoing being led by NATO and a separate third investigation that is a joint investigation carried out by the United States and Afghan officials."The US military says it launched the bombing at the request of the Afghan military, which was fighting to retake control of the city of Kunduz after it fell to Taliban forces last week.

Brazil registers record dengue fever deathsBrazil's Health Ministry is reporting nearly 700 people have died from Dengue Fever so far this year.

The 693 deaths represent a 70-percent increase in the number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne virus this year compared to last year.

Brazil recorded 674 deaths from Dengue Fever in 2013.

The southeastern part of the country, mainly in the state of Sao Paulo, has recorded the majority of the deaths from Dengue this year.

There are no known cures for the virus which causes Dengue Fever.

Its prevalent mostly in tropical areas, and is normally not fatal.

However, children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems can die from the virus.

U.S. and Europe Data Transfer Pact Ruled InvalidEurope's highest court has struck down an international agreement that allows companies to move digital information between the European Union and the United States.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice has determined the so-called safe harbor agreement is in violation of European laws, as it gives the US side access to Europeans' online information.

European Commission vice-President Frans Timmermans says the judgment should ultimately help safeguard the data of people throughout Europe.

"We will come forward with clear guidance for national data protection authorities on how to deal with data transfer requests to the United States in the light of the ruling. The guidance should help avoiding a patchwork of potentially contradicting decisions by the national data protection authorities and therefore provide predictability for citizens and businesses alike."Tech firms, including Facebook and Microsoft, have been trying to play down the impact of the ruling on their operations.

However, its widely expected their previous agreements with governments in Europe may come under scrutiny because of the new ruling.

For more on this, CRI's Brian Kopczynski spoke earlier with Shen Yi, Associate Professor of School of International Relations and Public Affairs, at Fudan University.

…Back anchor:

That was Shen Yi with Fudan University speaking with CRI's Brian Kopczynski.

VW Staff Chief: No Immediate Effect on JobsThe head of Volkswagon's employee relations committee has gone on-record saying he believes the current emission-rigging scandal the company is embroiled in will not effect jobs in the short-term.

Bernd Osterloh has made the statement to a crowd of some 20-thousand employees at a company assembly at VW's main plant in Wolfsburg, Germany.

But at the same time, Volkswagon is suggesting its employees are likely to see a reduction in their bonuses.

Meanwhile, members of the European Parliament are calling for investigations into whether the European Commission was aware of what Volkswagon was doing.

Around 11-million diesel vehicles produced by Volkswagon have been outfitted to pass emission testing, but still pump out emissions some 40-times the allowable limit on the road.

The scandal has wiped more than a third off the automaker's share price and forced out its long-time CEO.

Berdych bounced from China OpenIn tennis,Another top seed has been bounced from the China Open.

This time, its on the men's side.

2nd seeded Tomas Berdych has been knocked out of the tournament, going down to Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas earlier today in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Berdych, currently the world number-5, came into Beijing off the back of winning the Shenzhen Open on Monday.

In other action,Lu Yen-Hsun from Taiwan is through to the 2nd round.

The 32-year old upset world number-24 Serbian Viktor Troicki earlier today, 6-4, 7-5.

Lu Yen-Hsun is set to take on 4th seed David Ferrer in his next match.

The Spainyard rolled over the Czech Republic's Lucas Rosol in straight-sets earlier tonight, 7-6, 6-2.

---On the women's side,Another, smaller upset on the day, with Italian Sara Irrani getting past 13th seeded Andrea Petkovic of Germany in a 3-set affair, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Earlier in the day, it was 5th seeded Garbine Muguruza, who withdrew from this past weekend's final at the Wuhan Open, getting into the 3rd round in Beijing after dumping American qualifier Irina Falconi in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.

4th seeded Agineskza Radwanska is through to the quarter-finals after 14th seeded American Madison Keys pulled out following the first set in their match-up.

WeatherBeijing is overcast tonight with a low of 13 degrees Celsius; cloudy tomorrow with a high of 19.

Shanghai, light rain tonight with a low of 20; light rain to overcast tomorrow with a high of 23.

Chongqing, overcast tonight with a low of 20; light rain tomorrow with a high of 22.

Lhasa, clear tonight with a low of 6; sunny tomorrow with a high of 21.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 32.

Kabul, cloudy, 24.

Down in the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will be cloudy with a high of 18.

Brisbane, light rain with a high of 24.

Perth, cloudy, 31.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will have light rain with a high of 16 degrees Celsius.

That's all the time we have for this abbreviated, holiday edition of the Beijing Hour.

Recapping our top stories.

The International Monetary Fund has given a new full-year growth projection for China.

A leading Chinese researcher is suggesting the newly-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership will have only a limited impact on Chinese trade.

Officials in Africa are applauding the Nobel committee's decision to award its prize for medicine to a Chinese researcher.

Volkswagon is suggesting is current emission scandal is not going to mean job cuts at this point.

In Sports... the bottom of the men's draw at the China Open just its its biggest name.