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

Coming up on the program this evening...

A series of new figures have been released to coincide with the now-concluded National Day holiday.

A new national audit shows nearly a quarter of all infrastructure projects under a recent review are behind schedule.

US President Barack Obama has personally called the head of Doctors Without Borders to apologize for this past weekend's deadly bombing in Afghanistan.

In Business.... a pair of online Chinese companies form a major merger.

In Sports... Novak Djokovic continues to roll at this year's China Open.

In entertainment... Chinese musician Yo Yo Ma is out with a new album.

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

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Visit crienglish.com for the latest news and information from China Radio International.

Top NewsMore Trips and Spending During Chinese National HolidayAnchor:

A new batch of stats have been released connected to people's spending and travelling habits through the now-concluded National Day holiday these past 7-days.

CRI's Min Rui has more.

Reporter:

Data from Chinese bank card company UnionPay shows consumer spending on tourist-related activities during the National Holiday increased by nearly 45-percent compared to the same period last year.

UnionPay claims its stats show spending on transportation surged a massive 86-percent this National Day holiday compared with 2014.

The Ministry of Transport says an estimated 651-million domestic trips were made during the seven-day holiday.

On a regional level, scenic areas in Xinjiang saw the fastest pace of growth in ticket incomes compared to other parts of China.

But at the same time, outbound travel was also popular during this year's holiday.

Lu Bei is with a leading Chinese travel agency.

She says major international cities, including London and Paris, appeared to be quite popular.

"All of our outbound travel was booked two months ago. Trips to Europe, the US and Australia increased by 150 percent. At the same time, trips to popular destinations like London and Paris increased by some 200 percent."The number of trips to Japan also appears to have been on the rise.

Chinese travel booking website Ctrip says Japan is proving to be one of the most popular overseas destination for Chinese tourists during the holiday.

This year's holiday has also seen a growing number of Chinese people use credit cards to finance their trips.

UnionPay says the total transactions amount through credit cards has hit a new high during the week-long holiday, up nearly 30 percent.

Chen Han, data analyst at UnionPay, says one thing they have noticed is that the number of interbank transactions, which are an indication of overall sales, slowed down this year during the holiday.

He says the timing of the holiday on the calendar is one of the factors.

"The growth rate of interbank transactions during the national holiday slowed down because of the working days. This year saw the mid-autumn festival and the national day holiday fall very close together. If someone asked for three-days-leave, they could link the two holidays together for a total of 12 days off, which naturally means earlier spending by many ahead of October 1st. This is why shops were giving out national holiday promotion deals earlier. This prompted many consumers to go out and spend earlier this year."The same UnionPay report show shows people in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong were the biggest spenders during the holiday.

The use of mobile apps for travel and food delivery services also increased signficiantly during the National Day holiday.

Obsevers in China have been suggesting the use of mobile apps is reshaping consumption patterns in China through their ease of use, as well as the discounts many companies provide in promoting the use of their mobile app service.

For CRI, I'm Min Rui.

Scams Leave Visitors with Bitter Aftertaste during Golden WeekAnchor:

While newly-released figures show the numbers were up at domestic tourist sites across the country during the now-concluded National Day holiday, its being suggested the scams conducted through the 'Golden Week' remain just as prevalent.

CRI's Luo Wen reports.

Reporter:

The most high-profile scandal took place at a restaurant in the coastal city of Qingdao.

A tourist from Nanjing, surnamed Zhu, complained about being overcharged for a seafood dinner.

"He asked us to pay over 21-hundred yuan when we finished the meal. I said that's too expensive but the owner said it's because each prawn was charged 38 yuan. I argued that we had checked with them about the price before ordering, but the owner refused to talk any longer and didn't let us go unless paying the bill."Zhu says the restaurant owner threatened to beat up his entire family if they didn't foot the bill.

The restaurant has since been shut down and fined 90-thousand yuan.

An official with the market supervision administration in Qingdao has been suspended as a result.

Another notable scam took place in the popular backpackers city of Lijiang in Yunnan.

A tourist from Shenzhen, identified as Peng, was forced into spending 5-thousand yuan at a bar when he met up with a pair of women he met through WeChat.

Peng claims the two women took him to a bar and ordered six bottles of wine, but then later disappeared.

Traps such as these at tourist sites and during the holidays are still common in China.

Among the highest number of complaints are taxi drivers detouring to charge passengers more, and tour guides who get kickbacks by taking tourists to buy fake souvenirs.

A lack of help when someone does fall into a scam is also one of the biggest complaints.

In the case in Qingdao, the victim phoned both the local police and the price control watchdogs for help, but was eventually told by authorities to just pay the bill.

Lawyer Qiu Baochang says contacting the local police won't always work in cases like this.

"Price fraud is a form of civil dispute, which police aren't really equipped to deal with. Market regulators need to do more to eliminate cases like this. In this case, the local pricing watchdog would be responsible."Tourism industry observers are warning that poor tourism services in China is starting to push more tourists to travel overseas.

South Korea, Thailand and Japan were the most popular destination for Chinese tourists during this past week-long National Day holiday.

Visits by Chinese tourist to South Korea increased by 30 percent compared to the same period last year.

For CRI, I'm Luo Wen.

Slight growth in tourists does not benefit retail sector in HKAnchor:

This year's National Day holiday saw a slight increase in the number of tourist arrivals in Hong Kong, with retail sales still remaining sluggish across the city.

CRI's Hong Kong correspondent Li Jing has the story.

Report:

Hong Kong's Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development, Gregory So, says total arrivals climbed 1.5 per cent year-on-year.

The number of mainland tourists increased by just 2.3-percent this year to around 1.1 million arrivals over the 7-day holiday on the mainland.

Gregory So says this seems to be a growing trend.

"The number seems to be steady, but there may be a change in visitors' consumption habit. The retail sector says their performance is not as good as it used to be. "In September alone, the number of mainland tourists dropped by 4.6 percent.

Visitors into Hong Kong from neighboring Shenzhen were down by some 20-percent last month.

Officials are suggesting one of the main reasons is the current restrictions on one visit per week from Shenzhen, which came into effect almost half a year ago.

The National Day holiday, or the "Golden week", is normally a bonanza for Hong Kong retailers, as it has traditionally seen millions of mainland tourists flood into the city.

However, Cantonese restaurant CEO Chan Po Wah says their business is down by some 20 to 30 percent this year.

"This year, we have fewer mainland customers. We used to prepare a lot to receive mainland tourists groups, for example, twenty groups from the mainland, and ten from South Korea, but now, the figure is the opposite. "Commerce Secretary Gregory So says there are a number of factors behind this.

"On the exchange front, other currencies have depreciated a lot against RMB and HK dollars, so tourists tend to spend less here. Another reason is that other regions and countries have loosened their visa policies to attract more mainland tourists. Thirdly, of course, the unpleasant protests against mainland tourists also make them less willing to visit Hong Kong. "The tourism in Hong Kong has slumped for the first time since 2009, with many hotels trying to lure visitors by cheaper prices.

At the same time, jewelry shops, pharmacies, and cosmetic stores are running almost empty in busy shopping areas, even during the holidays.

The travel industry in Hong Kong says its working promotional campaigns, as well as developing new attractions.

For CRI, this is Li Jing in Hong Kong.

China audit finds slow progress on major construction projectsChina's top auditing authority has found close to one-quarter of all the construction projects it audited through August were behind schedule.

The National Audit Office says the 193 projects are worth close to 290-billion yuan, or around 45-billion U.S. dollars.

The report covers 29 provinces, 29 central departments and 7 central SOEs.

Slow construction has been found mostly in railway, highway, power and telecommunications projects.

The same report has found that less than 6-percent of the 12 billion yuan allocated by the central budget for agricultural water-saving projects has been put into use as of July.

The findings come as the government prepares to ramp up fiscal spending on major infrastructure projects to ease the overall economic slowdown.

KMT to hold extempore congress to consider replacing Taiwan election candidateTaiwan's ruling Kuomintang is moving to change its candidate for next year's leadership election.

The KMT's executive have approved a call for an emergency party meeting sometime in the next two weeks to replace Hung Hsiu-chu as the party's candidate.

KMT central committee member Lin Yi-hua says they want to get the meeting done within the next 2-weeks.

"The standing committee will empower the party's Central Committee to decide the time and location of the congress. The chairman also stressed that the temporary party congress aims to build consensus and win the election in solidarity."Its widely expected current KMT chair Eric Chu will be tapped to be the party's candidate in the next election.

Hung Hsiu-chu has issued a statement, saying while she respects the committee's right to hold a new nomination session, she says replacing her will negatively affect the party.

Hung Hsiu-chu won the original nomination in July.

However, the latest polling is suggesting Hung would be easily defeated by opposition DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen.

Current Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou isn't allowed to run again under Taiwan's election rules.

President Obama Apologizes to Doctors Without Borders for US AirstrikeUS President Barack Obama has apologized to Doctors Without Borders for an air strike that hit one of the organization's clinics in Afghanistan.

White House spokesperson Josh Earnest says Obama has made a direct call to the head of the charity organization.

"This morning from the Oval Office, President Obama spoke by telephone with Doctors Without Borders International President, Dr. Joanne Liu to apologize and express his condolences for the MSF staff and patients who were killed and injured when a U.S. military airstrike mistakenly struck an MSF field hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan."Last weekend, a US-led air strike in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz killed 22 civilians, including 12 staff members of Doctors Without Borders.

The US military has since admitted the strike was a mistake.

Obama has assured Doctors Without Borders there will be a thorough investigation.

The international aid organization, however, says a US probe into the incident won't be enough.

The charity says the series of conflicting reports from the US side after the bombing is prompting it to call for an independent international investigation into the case.

For more on this, CRI's Liu Kun earlier spoke earlier with Richard J. Stoll, Professor of Political Science at Rice University.

Hillary Clinton Voices Concern Over Trans-Pacific PartnershipUS Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is expressing concerns about the new 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Clinton has made her concerns known during a campaign stop in Iowa.

"I am worried about currency manipulation not being part of this agreement. We have lost American jobs to the manipulations to countries particularly in Asia have engaged in. I am worried that pharmaceutical companies may have gotten more benefits and patience and consumer fewer, I think that there are still a lot of unanswered questions."The US and 11 other countries along the Pacific Rim signed-off on the TPP on Monday.

It still has to be given approval by the US Congress.

China is not a party to the TPP.

Despite this, Chinese officials are suggesting the new agreement will have a minimal impact on China's foreign trade.

NATO chief says prepared to send troops to defend Turkey 'if needed'

NATO says it is prepared to send troops to Turkey 'if needed' following Russian incursions into Turkey's airspace.

The warning has been issued by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Stoltenberg has also criticized Russia for targeting 'moderate opposition groups' fighting against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"My concern is that the Russians are not mainly targeting ISIS, but they are targeting other opposition groups and they are supporting the regime. And I call on Russia to play a constructive and cooperative role in the fight against ISIS, not to continue to support the Assad regime."Moscow has tried to downplay the recent incident where two of its warplanes violated Turkish airspace, saying it was "not intentional or important."NATO is describing the incidents as "serious."NATO has also raised concerns over Russian cruise missile strikes launched from the Caspian Sea.

NATO defence ministers are meeting in Brussels this Thursday to discuss preparations for a possible force deployment in the Middle East should the Syrian conflict escalate.

Tsipras wins confidence vote before first bailout reviewGreek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' new coalition has secured a victory in its first confidence vote in Parliament.

The vote, which comes just over two weeks after his was re-elected, should help his government's attempt to back the country's latest bailout.

Greece is headed into a critical budget review by the country's European creditors to determine if Greece is living up to its commitments.

Tsipras says a positive review by Greece's international creditors could eventually lead to debt restructuring.

"Our planning is ambitious, yet clear. The first goal is within the next month, within November, to finalize the process of the first evaluation to complete, by the end of the year, the process of bank recapitalization and to open the vital discussion for Greek debt relief. This is how we can achieve a return, by the first six months of 2016, to positive growth rates."The Tsipras government will be tested in the coming weeks as it pushes more tax hikes and pension cuts that will enable Greece to qualify for a 3-billion euro bailout package and unlock 25 billion euros to recapitalize its banks.

The first set of 48 reforms need to be turned into law by next week.

Greece's creditors, including the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, are expected to carry out their bailout review before the end of the month.

UN backed peace talks on Libya teetering on collapse with no agreement on national unity governmentIt's being suggested this week's talks to create a national unity government in Libya may be on the verge of collapse.

Lawmakers from the separate camps have been meeting through UN brokered talks all this week.

Bernardino Leon, the UN envoy brokering the talks, says it's not clear if a self-imposed deadline of later this Thursday will be met by one of the factions involved in the talks.

"We waited today for a decision from the congress in Tripoli to be able to finish the formation of a government of national unity. Unfortunately this decision was not taken. What I have just discussed with all the Libyan participants in this dialogue is identifying the Libyan participants that will continue with the formation of a government in the coming hours. We hope that late Thursday at the latest, we will be able to announce this unity government."Libya is now split between an Islamist-backed government based in Tripoli and an internationally recognized government in Bengazi.

This is the latest attempt to bring the two sides together.

Libya has been split by rival factions following the ouster of long-time leader Muammar Ghaddafi.

Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar win Nobel Prize in ChemistryAnchor:

This year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to a scientist from Sweden, as well as two American researchers, into their groundbreaking work into cellular regeneration.

CRI's Chen Xuefei has more from Stockholm, Sweden.

Reporter:

Goran Hansson, Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Sciences made the announcement at the Academy's headquarters.

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2015 to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for mechanistic studies of DNA repair."The Nobel Prize has been awarded the trio for having mapped at a molecular level how cells repair damaged DNA and safeguard genetic information.

Their work has provided the scientific community with fundamental knowledge of how a living cell functions, and this can be used for things like the development of new cancer treatments.

Torleif Hard, Professor in Structural Biology and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences explained the importance of this discovery.

"This is a great research now. It is important for medical research and biology. It concerns that DNA molecule is not a stable molecule. It degrades spontaneously from radiation, or from poisens basically. And the cell has a mechanism that repairs DNA molecules. "Hard said the discovery is very important for people to understand the basic processes inside a cell.

"For example every cancer starts with DNA damage, normally that is repaired but sometimes it is not, therefore it is important to understand the aging mechanisms, also understand how aging mechanisms work."It was in the early 1970s, Tomas Lindahl demonstrated that DNA decays at a rate that ought to have made the development of life on earth impossible.

This insight led him to discover a molecular machinery Base Excision Repair which constantly counteracts the collapse of DNA in the human body.

The discovery might be used in the development of new cancer treatments.

For CRI, I'm Chen XuefeiHostage taker of Manila passenger bus shot deadA man who had been holding people hostage on a passenger bus in the Philippine capital, Manila, has been shot dead by police.

The unidentified gunman took the bus hostage with a knife this afternoon around 2pm local time.

Police shot the hostage-taker shortly after arriving on the scene after he began threatening a female passenger.

He later died in hospital.

None of the hostages were hurt.

Indonesia seeks int'l help to fight forest firesIndonesian President Joko Widodo has formally asked for international help in putting out a series of forest fires in the country which have been choking up parts of southeast Asia.

Indonesian authorities had been resisting outside help, including from Singapore, which has been gagging for weeks under intense smoke pollution from Indonesia.

However, Widodo says his government has decided to change its stance.

"We have already asked for help from Singapore, the process is ongoing with Russia, Malaysia and Japan."The fires are mainly located on Sumatra and the Indonesian-held areas of Borneo.

The haze has pushed air quality to dangerous, and sometimes hazardous, levels across parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and southern Thailand.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 7 degrees. Tomorrow will be cloudy too with a high of 20.

Shanghai will see light rain overnight with a low of 18. It will be cloudy tomorrow with a high of 23.

Chongqing will have some rain with a low of 19. Tomorrow will see more rain with a high of 23.

Lhasa will be cloudy tonight with a low of 5, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 20.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad will have sunshine tomorrow with a high of 32.

Kabul, sunny, 26.

In the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will be cloudy with a high of 22.

Brisbane, moderate rain, high of 22.

Perth, sunny, 33.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will be cloudy with a high of 16 degrees Celsius.

Headline NewsChina audit finds slow progress on major construction projectsChina's top auditing authority has found close to one-quarter of all the construction projects it audited through August were behind schedule.

The National Audit Office says the 193 projects are worth close to 290-billion yuan, or around 45-billion U.S. dollars.

The report covers 29 provinces, 29 central departments and 7 central SOEs.

Slow construction has been found mostly in railway, highway, power and telecommunications projects.

The same report has found that less than 6-percent of the 12 billion yuan allocated by the central budget for agricultural water-saving projects has been put into use as of July.

The findings come as the government prepares to ramp up fiscal spending on major infrastructure projects to ease the overall economic slowdown.

Five crew found dead on fishing boat on east China seaPolice in the city of Zhoushan in Zhejiang are investigating the suspected murder of 5 sailors found dead on a fishing boat.

A 6th crew member is currently listed as missing.

Police are not saying if they believe the missing person is a suspect in the murder.

Authorities are saying little else at this point, and aren't providing any possible motive for the murder.

Abe's conciliatory letter delivered to S. Korean presidentJapanese Prime Minister Shinzo has sent a letter off to South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

The head of Abe's coaltion partner in the Japanese parliament, New Komeito, has delivered the note of conciliation to the South Korean president personally.

The move by Abe is meant to try to get formally-engaged with the South Korean President.

Park Geun-hye has refused to hold a bilateral summit with Abe since she took office, citing his previous stances on certian historical issues.

Japan controlled the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Japan's occupation is still a strong area of contention between the two countries.

Coalition airstrike kills 26 at Yemen weddingTwenty-six people, including 7 children, have been killed in an airstrike in Yemen.

The bombing is being blamed on the the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels in the country.

More than 40 others have been wounded when the airstrike hit the house of a tribal leader who allegedly supports the Houthis.

It is the second airstrike on a wedding party in Yemen in just over a week.

Coaltion warplanes bombed two wedding tents in southern Yemen in late September, killing 131 people.

Indian Air Force to have women fighter pilotsThe Indian military is bringing in a new policy change, allowing women to fly figher jets in the Indian Airforce for the first time.

India's Air Force chief has made the revelation at celebrations marking the country's Air Force Day.

The Indian Air Force currently allows its female soldiers to fly transport aircraft and helicopters.

However, under previous policies, the Indian Air Force doesn't let women fly fighter jets over concerns they may be subject to sexual torture if they're shot down and captured.

Biz ReportsStocksAnchor:

Time to check today's business news, starting with the closing numbers in Asia.

Joining us on the desk Luo Wen.

Reporter:

Mainland markets saw major gains this Thursday on the return to trading following the National Day holiday amid speculation the government will take more steps to shore up the economy.

Internet and software companies led the gains on the day.

Shares related to Traditional Chinese Medicine also performed well, with 6shares up 10 percent and three up over 5 percent.

This, after it was announced that Chinese researcher has won the Nobel Prize for her work on a drug using TCM which treats malaria.

At the close,The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 3 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose 4.1 percent.

The ChiNext Index of growth enterprises climbed 5.2 percent.

In Hong Kong, the Heng Seng Index declined 0.7 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia,Tokyo fell on Thursday, snapping a six-day winning streak with sentiment dampened by data showing Japanese machinery orders fell unexpectedly for a third straight month in August.

Decliners were led by air transport, retail and pharmaceuticals.

The Nikkei closed one percent lower.

South Korea's KOSPI edged up 0.7 percent.

Singapore's Straights Times slipped half of a percentAnd finally,Australia's ASX/200 ticked up 0.3 percent.

Meituan and Dianping Strike Strategic MergerChinese group-buying site Meituan and restaurant-review website Dianping have announced their merger.

The new company, to be co-chaired by Meituan CEO Wang Xing and Dianping CEO Zhang Tao, could be worth more than 15-billion U.S. dollars.

Investment bank China Renaissance has been tapped to oversee the merger.

Meituan and Dianping will continue to run their businesses in parallel, retain their brands, and remain independent.

It is not clear what the equity ratio of the new company will be.

Meituan is a group-buying site backed by Alibaba.

Dianping is funded by Tencent.

China's ICBC Clears 1st RMB Transaction in Singapore via New Cross-border Payment SystemICBC's Singapore branch has completed the first clearing of some 35-million yuan via the newly-launched Cross-border Interbank Payment System.

The newly-launched system provides settlement and clearing services for cross-border transactions using the renminbi for financial institutions both domestically and abroad.

Fan Yifei, vice president of the People's Bank of China, says the launch of the new system will make it much easier for companies to do business in China.

"The launch of the system is a millstone in the development of the RMB's cross-border use. It creates a much more efficient cross-border RMB clearing system. It also promtes the worldwide use of the RMB and will have a profound influence in supporting the world economy and China's going-out strategy."The system has been developed and will be administered by China's central bank.

It allows organizations outside of China to clear yuan transactions with their Chinese counterparts directly from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Beijing time during work days.

Until this point, cross-border yuan clearing had to be done either through one of the offshore yuan clearing banks in places like Hong Kong, Singapore and London, or through the help of a corresponding bank on the mainland.

China Starts Dumping U.S. Treasury Bond: WSJAnchor:

It’s being reported a number of central banks are speeding up their sale of US government bonds, including China, Russia and Brazil.

The People's Bank of China has been selling its U.S. treasuries and using the proceeds to purchase the renminbi in an effort to keep the Chinese currency from sliding too much in value.

It's being reported the Chinese central bank spent upwards of 130-billion U.S. dollars in August in an attempt to bolster the yuan's value.

For more on this, CRI's Spencer Musick earlier spoke with CRI's financial commentator Cao Can.

China Adopts IMF Statistical Benchmark, Improves TransparencyChina's central bank is taking steps to try to assure the global markets that its official statistics are completely transparent.

The People's Bank of China has announced its official stats are going to fully-conform to the Special Data Dissemination Standards.

This is a statistical system created by the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF created the standard in 1996 to help it gain access to regular economic and financial statistics of its member-countries.

Didi Kuaidi Obtains China's First Ride-hailing LicenseTransport authorities in Shanghai have issued an operating license to running a ride-hailing platform Didi Kuaidi.

Some are calling this a milestone in urban transport and China's mobile Internet development.

This comes on the same day US-based Uber establishes its operations in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Uber Enters Shanghai Free Trade ZoneUS-based car service Uber has set up an operation in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Uber has set up a subsidiary in the area.

At the same time, Uber has also announced plans to invest 6.3 billion yuan, or close to a billion US dollars, in the Chinese market.

The company also hopes to provide services in around one-hundred cities in China in a year's time.

Uber is currently operational in 21 different cities in China at this point.

Volkswagen US CEO Admits Knew of Emissions Problem in 2014Volkswagen's US chief is preparing to testify before a US Congressional committee later on this Thursday in connection with the company's current emission rigging scandal.

It’s being reported that his prepared statement is going to include an admission the company new about "possible emission non-compliance" as far back as last year.

Michael Horn is going to be trotted up 'the hill' to be grilled by US lawmakers about allegations Volkswagen had intentionally devised a way to have its diesel vehicles pass emission testing while in the shop, but then still be able to pump out emissions on the road as much as 40-times the allowable limit.

SportsNovak Djokovic beats Zhang Ze 2-0 to advance to the third round of China OpenIn tennis,A couple of significant upsets today on the women's side at the China Open.

It was American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands downing 15th seeded 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

However, young Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova pulled off the much bigger upset to reach the quarter-finals, dumping US Open champ Flavia Pennetta earlier today, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

---On the men's side,World Number on Novak Djokovic has advanced to the third round of China Open after cruising past China's Zhang Ze 6-2, 6-1.

In other action on the men's side,Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas continues his strong run in Beijing, advancing to the 3rd round after dumping Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 7-6.

He'll be up against Italian Fabio Fognini, who got past Belgium's David Goffin 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.

---Later tonight at 9:30 Beijing time, Chinese women's doubles squad of Liang Chen and Wang Yafan will be shooting for slot in the semi-finals of the event when they take on France's Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos from Hungary.

Los Angeles comes to China for NBA preseason games against Charlotte HornetsThe Los Angeles Clippers have arrived in China for their NBA preseason games against the Charlotte Hornets.

The two teams will square off twice while in China.

The first game will be in Shenzhen on Sunday.

The Clippers and Hornets will then do it again next Wednesday in Shanghai.

Chinese basketball fans will have a chance to see Jeremy Lin play.

The Chinese-American joined the Charlotte Hornets in the off-season.

Meanwhile, there was action this morning in the NBA pre-season,Kevin Durant has made his return to basketball after fracturing his foot some 8-months ago which put the Oklahoma City Thunder's season into a tail-spin.

Durant scored 15 in his 22-minutes on the court to help lead Oklahoma city to a 122-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

--It was the Houston Rockets over the Dallas Mavericks 109-82.

---The Utah Jazz edged the LA Lakers 117-114.

--Atlanta squeezed by Cleveland 98-96.

--A battle of Florida has gone to the "Magic Kingdom," with Orlando edging out Miami 100-97.

--And it was Phoenix over the Sacramento Kings 102-98.

Cubs advance to NLDSIn Major League Baseball,The Divisional Series in both the National and American leagues are now set.

The Chicago Cubs are through to the NLDS after blanking the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 this morning.

The young Cubs team now moves on to play St. Louis in the National League Divisonal best-of-5 starting on Saturday morning, Beijing time.

First games of NHL season playedHockey fans are rejoicing...

This year's National Hockey League season has begun, with 4 games played earlier this morning.

Defending Stanley Cup champions the Chicago Blackhawks have stumbled out of the gate, going down to the New York Rangers 3-2.

--In Toronto, the Maple Leafs' season has gotten out to the start many have expected.

The Montreal Canadiens, backed by 35 saves from Carey Price, dumped the Leafs 3-1.

Most expect Toronto, one of the league's most popular teams, is likely going to be one of the worst as well this season, as it goes through a rebuilding phase.

--In other action, it was Vancouver over Calgary 5-1.

--And it was the San Jose Sharks thumping the LA Kings 5-1 as well.

--This year's NHL season has a 3-on-3 overtime format, which many expect will mean less shoot-out finishes, and somewhat higher scoring.

Usain Bolt ponders retirement after the 2016 Olympic GamesThe world's fastest man is hinting his professional running days may be over after next year's Olympics.

Usain Bolt has made the revelation while attending a promotional event in Mexico City.

"Me and my coach have been discussing when we're going to retire so after the Olympics he says we shouldn't say no or yes. After the Olympics we should decide whether we continue for one more year or not, so after we come to that".

Bolt, who recently dominated at the IAAF championships here in Beijing in both the 100 and 200-meter event, says he still has some running life left in him.

"If I go to the Olympics and win then I will be comfortable to say to anybody that I'm a legend. Other people are saying you're a legend, I want to do it one more time and then I'll be comfortable if people ask "are you a legend", then I can say to people I am a legend. I want to be among the greats of the world so if I want to do that I have to continue doing great things, pushing the barriers. That's my focus, that's what I want".

Bolt has previously suggested he would consider calling it a career after the 2017 World Championships in London.

Golf Presidents Cup 2015 previewIn golf,The first round of this year's Presidents Cup is in-the-book in Incheon, South Korea.

The American squad has jumped out to an early lead, taking a 4-1 lead out of Day 1 through the foursome matchups this Thursday.

Thursday top-ranked Americans Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson blow past Marc Leishman and Danny Lee at 4-and-3.

Only South African's Louis Oosthheizen and Brandon Grace managed to get the International team on the board, getting past Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed 3-and-2.

The President's Cup tournament pits a team of US golfers against an international team composed of golfers from around the world, other than Europe.

Tomorrow's action will include 5 different 4-ball matches.

EntertainmentChinese Actor Huang Xiaoming and Angela Baby to tie the knot todayChinese celebrity couple Huang Xiaoming and AngelaBaby tied the knot today at a grand wedding reception at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre.

More than 2000 guests from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan attended the wedding banquet that has been dubbed by some netizens as "the wedding of the century".

The couple registered for marriage at Huang Xiaoming's hometown, Qingdao in May.

Angelababy's agent also released photos from her wedding album that was shot in Paris earlier today.

Saoirse Ronan attends NYFF premiere of her upcoming film, 'Brooklyn'

Saoirse Ronan walked the red carpet on Wednesday in Manhattan for the New York Film Festival premiere of her upcoming movie, "Brooklyn."In the film, Ronan plays a young Irish woman who migrates to the United States in the 1950s, and meets a man that she secretly marries.

But after her sister unexpectedly passes away, she returns home and gets into a romantic tryst with a local man.

She must now decide whether to stay at home or go back to her husband in New York.

Born in New York, but raised in Ireland, the actress felt the film gave her a chance to go back to her roots.

"It's the first Irish role that I've ever taken on, and it's always been very important for me to kind of connect home with the work that I do and a character that I play. But I wanted it to be the right and I wanted it to strong enough and kind of well-written, well-rounded, and really represent who we are. Also there has always been kind of specific stories told about our history and our experience and we've kind of done that now, so to see a story like this, which resonates with so many people, told from the point of view of a woman was very exciting for me,"The 21-year-old, with movies like "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Lovely Bones," and "Atonement" to her credit, has been generating a lot of Oscar buzz with her critically acclaimed performance in "Brooklyn."Zhang Lei Wins 'Voice of China 2015'

Folk singer Zhang Lei from XXX has won the "Voice of China" singing competition after a nail-biting finale at the Birds' Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing on Wednesday night.

Zhang Lei was coach by popular singer Na Ying.

The latest win marks a third time that someone from Na Ying's team had won the coveted title since the show was launched in 2012.

Zhang Lei was already a professional singer before he took part in the popular reality TV show.

As a folk musician, he had taken part in other similar competitions before.

But winning "Voice of China" has made him an instant celebrity across China and abroad.

The other three finalists include Li An from Mandopop king Jay Chou's team, Tan Xuanyuan from Harlem Yu's team and Bei Bei from team of rocker Wang Feng.

WeatherBeijing will be cloudy tonight with a low of 7 degrees. Tomorrow will be cloudy too with a high of 20.

Shanghai will see light rain overnight with a low of 18. It will be cloudy tomorrow with a high of 23.

Chongqing will have some rain with a low of 19. Tomorrow will see more rain with a high of 23.

Lhasa will be cloudy tonight with a low of 5, cloudy tomorrow with a high of 20.

Elsewhere in Asia,Islamabad will have sunshine tomorrow with a high of 32.

Kabul, sunny, 26.

In the Southern Hemisphere.

Sydney will be cloudy with a high of 22.

Brisbane, moderate rain, high of 22.

Perth, sunny, 33.

And finally Auckland, New Zealand will be cloudy with a high of 16 degrees Celsius.

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

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

A series of new figures have been released to coincide with the now-concluded National Day holiday.

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...