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

Coming up on the program this morning...

China and Singapore upgrade the bilateral relationship, as president Xi Jinping visits the city-state...

Xi Jinping will also sit down for an historic meeting with the leader of Taiwan, during his time in Singapore...

Russian authorities have suspended all flights to Egypt after a deadly plane crash...

We have our weekely round up of the latest business news.

In Sports...heading into the final four at the Paris Masters...

In Entertainment...a famous Chinese musician has partnered with a Swiss watch maker...

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.

You can follow us on our weibo account at weibo.com/beijinghourFind us on WeChat by searching "beijinghour"Or email us directly at [email protected].

You can also visit crienglish.com for the latest news and information from China Radio International.

Top NewsChina, Singapore agree to lift ties, upgrade FTAChina and Singapore have agreed to redefine their bilateral relationship.

Ties have been elevated to "a partnership of all-round cooperation" during President Xi Jinping's visit to the city-state.

Also, the countries have decided to upgrade a seven-year-old free trade agreement.

The decision was announced after a meeting between Xi Jinping and his Singaporean counterpart, Tony Tan Keng Yam on Friday.

During the meeting, the president said China is willing to join hands with Singapore to build a community of common destiny between China and ASEAN, a 10-member regional bloc.

Singapore is taking a turn this year as the coordinating country of China-ASEAN relations.

Xi Jinping also called on the two countries to break new ground for practical cooperation, and push forward the construction of the third government-to-government project with the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing as an operation center.

The Chongqing project will support the Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013 to revive the ancient trade routes that span Asia, Africa and Europe, and provide a springboard to propel bilateral ties to a new level in the next 25 years.

China and Singapore currently have two government-to-government projects -- the Suzhou Industrial Park established in 1994 in China's eastern province of Jiangsu, and the Tianjin Eco-city inaugurated in 2008 in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.

President Xi flew to Singapore after wrapping up his state visit to Vietnam, another ASEAN nation.

Singapore's Speaker of Parliament Calls for closer cooperation between China and SingaporeSingapore's Speaker of Parliament, Halimah Yacob, says Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing trip is going to enhance bilateral ties.

Yacob made the remarks while attending the Second Meeting of the Global Advisory Council.

Yacob also emphasizes the importance of economic cooperation, saying the two countries should work together to promote economic integration among Asian countries:

"I think the initiatives that President Xi Jinping has embarked on to promote greater economic integration, to work closely with ASEAN, particularly with the ASEAN economic community coming on board, will be good initiatives in order to help ASEAN [and] Asia as a whole both in terms of economic integration but also to develop together,"The two-day meeting has attracted politicians, advisers and experts around the world, including former president of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister of France Dominique de Villepin and former Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz.

The Global Advisory Council was established early this year by China Minsheng Investment, the country's first national-level private investment group, with an aim to help Chinese companies develop overseas.

Observers Looking Farward to Xi-Ma MeetingDuring his stay in Singapore, Xi Jinping is also due to meet with Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou on Saturday -- an historic first.

The upcoming meeting has drawn a lot of public attention at home and abroad.

The meeting is seen by many as a breakthrough, as the two sides have become tightly linked through the launch of direct flights, trade deals and tourism in recent years.

Li Yihu is head of the Taiwan Institute at Peking University.

"For leaders from both sides of the Strait to meet and exchange views on peaceful development is very important for maintaining peace and promoting mutual development. We should band together to promote cross-Straits relations, as this can accumulate more positive energy to promote even better development of relations across the Strait"Li says that although the meeting may seem sudden to some observers, it actually follows the trend of history and developments in cross-Straits relations over the years.

Shen Byi-yao, honorary chairman of the National Association for China's Peaceful Unification, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, has lauded the meeting as a positive development.

"I think the meeting is an important chance to promote cross-Straits peaceful development."The meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou will be the first of its kind since the end of the civil war and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The meeting will take place in two parts, one which will be open to the media, and one which will take place behind closed-doors.

China, Vietnam seek ways to manage maritime differencesAnchor:

A joint communique outlines how China and Vietnam plan to manage differences in the Beibu Gulf.

It's been released as part of President Xi Jinping's now-concluded trip to Vietnam.

CRI's Wang Mengzhen has more on the agreement.

Reporter:

As part of their joint communiqué, China and Vietnam have agreed to inspect the waters outside the mouth of the Beibu Gulf next month.

The two sides also planned to steadily promote the negotiation mechanism on demarcation of the waters in the region.

Nie Huihui, an expert from the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, says such inspections could be seen as an important step to gain mutual trust, though more patience is still needed to solve the disputes.

"The inspection echoes actively to the agreements on the demarcation of the Beihu Gulf and fishing cooperation. It has taken both countries 30 years or so to deal with the issue of disputed territories. South China Sea dispute is complicated and has a big impact on the whole region. The two sides should give it more time."The Beibu Gulf is a half-closed bay surrounded by Chinese and Vietnamese territories and a traditional fishery place for the two countries.

Back in 2000, the two countries signed agreements on the demarcation of the Beibu Gulf and fishing cooperation in the area.

Apart from maritime cooperation, the two sides have agreed to expand industrial cooperation within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's 'Two Corridors and One Economic Circle' plan.

Among all industrial projects, both countries have agreed to a feasibility study of a railway project worth some 28 billion yuan, or over 4 billion US dollars.

The railway is set to link the Vietnam capital Hanoi and northern city Lao Cai near the China-Vietnam border.

Nie Huihui says both sides could strengthen their industrial cooperation in the following aspects.

"One is the interconnection of infrastructure, such as that of motorways, ports, etc. The other is strengthening industry docking. Both countries can complement each other with each countries' advantages."Based on the communiqué, bilateral trade volume between China and Vietnam is expected to reach 100 billion US dollars in 2017.

Last year, Vietnam became China's second largest trading partner inside ASEAN as bilateral border-trade has grown steadily.

Earlier this year, Vietnam and 11 other nations concluded their talks in the Trans Pacific Partnership deal.

Nie Huihui says the recent TPP deal will not affect China-Vietnam trade relations given their large-scale imports and exports, especially in agricultural and aquatic products.

For CRI, I am Wang MengzhenChina to continue with prudent monetary policyA new report from the Central Bank is suggesting China will continue its prudent monetary policies.

According to the report, the central bank will guard against slumping monetary demand amid restructuring, aiming to prevent too much liquidity in the market.

The central bank will also provide adapted monetary policy to help promote lending and social financing.

The report also suggests monetary policies should be channeled to the real economy more efficiently.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, has increased 13.1 percent year on year to 22.3 trillion U.S. dollars as of the end of September.

Premier encourages political advisors to help map five-year planChinese Premier Li Keqiang is encouraging political advisers to pool wisdom and suggestions while the country maps a new five-year plan.

The Premier made the remarks on Friday at a national meeting of the country's top political advisory body, the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Li said the 13th five-year plan period will be crucial for China to build a moderately prosperous society in all aspects.

Li added the first two years will be especially important for restructuring and transformation.

The Premier also said targets in the 12th five-year plan can be achieved completely.

The next five-year plan, from 2016 to 2020, highlights innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing.

It was approved at a party meeting last month.

Horizon 2020: Co-funding Mechanism for ChinaAnchor:

The Chinese government and the EU agreed to co-fund research and innovation to support joint projects between European and Chinese universities, research institutions and companies, under the title of Horizon 2020.

Our reporter Chi Huiguang has talked with Robert Jan Smits, Director General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, for more details.

Reporter:

Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation program ever with nearly 80 billion Euros of funding available over 7 years from 2014 to 2020. It promises more breakthroughs, discoveries and world-firsts by taking great ideas from the lab to the market.

Robert Jan Smits says that up to 200 million RMB, or 28 million Euros, will be made available annually by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology for the benefit of China-based entities that will participate in joint projects with European partners under Horizon 2020:

Through participation in Horizon 2020, China can gain great benefits from access to excellent knowledge, access to research data and access and connection to world-leading scientific networks and research teams.

"We are facing both China and Europe a lot of similar challenges. We have aging population. We have short of energies, so we need to deal with the energy security. Food safety is a big issue. The big cities problem: urbanization. So for that reason, scientists need to work together to find solutions for those problems."Chinese participation is welcomed in all Calls for Proposals of Horizon 2020.

"So what I think is very important is that Chinese Government is now decided to make the fund available to finance Chinese scientists who are working together with the European scientists. And that's a big improvement. It's an enormous boost to our cooperation."Seen as a means to drive economic growth and create jobs, Horizon 2020 has the political backing of Europe's leaders and the Members of the European Parliament.

"If China wants to continue to develop new knowledge and continue to strengthen its technological economy, you need to open up more, you need to have more foreign faculty staff from outside China, more foreign students from outside China. That is one of the biggest challenges your government has."Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important.

Smits describes the most prominent issue: we will soon have to feed 9 billion people on this planet, and with China's new two-child policy, some people even say the number will reach 11 billion.

"How can we deploy the best brains from China and Europe to really solve the food problem and produce enough proteins? It's this kind of strategic flagships which I hope one day we can develop together. That will be done in the next phase of the cooperation."The EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation will be complemented by further measures to complete and further develop the European Research Area. These measures will aim at breaking down barriers to create a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation.

Back Anchor: That's CRI's Chi Huiguang reporting.

Russia regulator starts implementing Egypt flight suspensionRussia has suspended all passenger flights to Egypt after a deadly plane crash on the weekend as Western officials say intelligence "chatter" supports the theory that the jet was brought down by a bomb.

An Airbus A321 operated by a Russian carrier crashed on the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday. All 224 people on board were killed.

The head of Russia's civil aviation regulator, Alexander Neradko, says the watchdog had started drawing up plans to suspend flights between Russia and Egypt as recommended by the head of Russia's FSB security service.

"This statement is made by the head of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, who is qualified to give this statement. This statement was published only recently, and it only came through right now to Rosaviatsia and we have now started drawing up plans to bring to realization this suggestion."Some reports suggest Russia's decision may be the first sign that Moscow is attaching credibility to the theory that militants put a bomb on the aircraft.

However, the Kremlin said the decision to suspend flights did not mean it thought the crash was caused by a terrorist attack.

UK-Egypt FlightAnchor:

Flights out of the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheiikh have begun leaving for the UK - after a 48 hour suspension over security concerns.

The British government grounded all flights in and out of the Red Sea resort on Wednesday after intelligence reports suggested a bomb may have passed through the airport and brought down a Russian jet on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

But as some airlines resume operations - there remains confusion. Our UK correspondent Dan Whitehead reports.

Reporter:

While investigations into the downing of the Russian Metrojet airliner continue, relations between Egypt and the UK have been strained.

On Wednesday, the British government halted flights to Sharm - and only on Friday did some airlines manage to start returning tourists to the UK.

But there was confusion, after some Easyjet flights were not allowed to land at the airport. Egyptian authorities say that was down to capacity issues and extra security.

The ban on flights over security concerns coincidently came as Egypt's President Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi began a three day visit to the UK to hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.

In a joint press conference, Mr Cameron stressed how important returning flights to normal between the UK and Sharm al-Sheiikh was.

"We are also committed to working together to restore normal flights in both directions as soon as possible. British holidaymakers want to go to Sharm and Egyptians want to welcome them there. Almost a million British holidaymakers enjoy Sharm al-Sheikh every year and we recognise the importance of their visits to Egypt. And it's in our mutual interest to address this and to get back to normal as soon as possible."Egypt's President Sisi insisted both the UK and Egypt were cooperating over security issues.

"And I understand this. I understand that the Prime Minister wants to be assured of his citizens' well-being and this is his right and we responded to all his requests that he comes, that his teams come and check on the procedures we have in place at Sharm al-Sheikh airport and we say it one more time: we are prepared to cooperate further with any procedures that reassure all our friends that the security measures in place at Sharm al-Sheikh airport are enough and that the airport is safe to a good standard."It wasn't just the UK which changed its policy on flights to the resort.

On Friday afternoon, Russia's security chief said Russia should suspend all flights to Egypt until the outcome of the investigation into last Saturday's crash.

In Germany, Lufthansa announced it was no longer flying there and was avoiding airspace around northern Sinai.

Belgium, Ukraine, the Netherlands Austria and Switzerland also made changes to flight schedules or official advice.

As flights slowly return to normal - many will be concerned about the impact on Egypt's tourism industry.

Resorts like Sharm and Hugharda are heavily reliant on British and Russian tourists - nearly one million British nationals holiday there every year.

As the investigation into the crash continues, any proof that a bomb did bring down the jet would likely have a major impact on Egypt's tourism industry - and cause another major review of airport security.

For CRI, I'm DW, in London.

US President Rejected Controversial Pipeline ProjectU.S. President Barack Obama has rejected the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada in a victory for environmentalists.

The President spoke to reporters at the White House on Friday.

"This morning, Secretary Kerry informed me that after extensive public outreach and consultation with other cabinet agencies, the State Department has decided that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the national interests of the United States. I agree with that decision,"Obama said the pipeline would not make a meaningful long-term contribution to the economy and would not reduce gasoline prices. He also said it would not increase U.S. energy security.

The rejected project would have linked existing pipeline networks in Canada and the United States to bring crude to refineries in Illinois and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico.

TransCanada first sought the required presidential permit for the cross-border section in 2008.

However, the proposal inspired a wave of environmental activism that turned Keystone XL into a rallying cry to fight climate change.

EU expects new data transfer deal with US in three monthsThe EU hopes to reach a new deal with Washington on data transfers in three months.

European Commission vice-President Andrus Ansip, responsible for the Digital Single Market, explained at a press conference on Friday,"This is a message that we are in a hurry; we are representing the interest of the Europeans -- we have to protect data of Europeans in the United States of America and that's why we're in a hurry."The European Court of Justice last month ruled that the EU-US "Safe Harbour" can no longer serve as a legal basis for transfers of personal data to the United States.

The Safe Harbor arrangement sets out rules for transferring personal data from the EU to non-EU countries.

The landmark verdict stemmed from a case lodged by Austrian law student Max Schrems, who challenged the deal between Washington and Brussels on the grounds it did not properly protect European data.

His concerns were raised by the scandal involving Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency whistleblower who in 2013 revealed a worldwide US surveillance programme harvesting the data.

EU and US officials have since held several rounds of talks for a new arrangement.

Dimitris Avramopoulos: EU works to better manage external bordersEU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos says Europe needs to take measures to defend and protect its external borders.

"I should say we are confronted with an unprecedented situation and yes we have to take measures in order to defend and protect our borders, this does not mean that we want a "Fortress Europe". That's why we work very hard right now in Europe in order to better manage our borders, and we are in view of presenting a full proposal of how can we have very soon a European borders unique system."Avramopoulos has met with Austria's Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner in Austria near the border with Slovenia where hundreds of refugees and migrants are waiting to cross.

Mikl-Leitner says she wants to see increased controls at border crossings.

"It is not about closing down borders, it is about ensuring orderly and safe conditions here. We know that the weather is getting worse, many different groups are coming here, some of them are emotional, impatient and they want to quickly go to Germany. It is about guaranteeing controlled entry into Austria on the one hand and guaranteeing the security of the inhabitants on the other."The European Commission has also approved over 10 million euros, or 11 million USD, in emergency funding to help Slovenia cope with the huge and sudden influx of migrants arriving in the country since mid-October.

Arrivals in Slovenia have accelerated since Hungary, an eastern outpost of the European Union's passport-free Schengen zone, shut its southern border to the migrants on Oct. 16, diverting the flow of more than 150-thousand people westward.

Foreign Ministers Meet for Ukraine CrisisThe foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Berlin on Friday to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says the situation has already calmed down in eastern Ukraine, but it's not enough.

"We are behind in schedule and ahead of us are a few difficult tasks. The difficult tasks are especially those which affect the so called political process, meaning the preparation of elections in eastern Ukraine,"While violence has declined since a cease-fire was signed in Minsk eight months ago, Western diplomats say the 11-point peace plan is far from fully implemented.

NATO has called on Russia to withdraw heavy weapons which the alliance accuses it of providing in support of militant groups in eastern Ukraine.

Russia denies that it has provided rebels with arms and troops.

Brazilians Buy Chinese Goods during Online Shopping FrenzyA Chinese online shopping platform has launched the Double 11 Shopping Festival, China's largest 24-hour online shopping promotion, to its Brazilian customers.

Shoppers in the South American country, with online festival coupons, can enjoy steep discounts when shopping through the AliExpress online shopping platform.

AliExpress has also launched a new payment method in addition to an international credit card, trying to ease the payment process.

Carlos, from Sao Paulo, says such payment convenience enhances his shopping experience:

"I have already used AliExpress several times to buy stuff. There are two types of payment methods: by credit card for international buyers or by the so-called 'Boleto.' I prefer to use Boleto, since I can go to the bank within two days with a copy of my invoice to pay for the bill after I've submitted my order online. It will take longer to deliver from China to Brazil because of the long distance. For most goods, it will take 15 to 50 days to arrive with an average of 30 days,"AliExpress, which belongs to Alibaba Group, built the website in Portuguese and Spanish to ease the buying process for its international customers.

WeatherBeijing will be overcast with a high of 7 degrees Celsius.

Slight rain tonight, temperatures should drop down to 4.

Shanghai will have moderate rain with a high of 24 and a low of 17.

In Chongqing, it will be overcast with a high of 19, slight rain tonight, lows of 14.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Islamabad will be cloudy with a high of 23.

Kabul, cloudy, a high of 12.

Over to North America,New York will see slight rain with a high of 16 degrees.

Washington, slight rain with a high of 17 degrees.

Honolulu, rainy, 27.

Toronto will have a wet day with a high of 10 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires, cloudy with a high of 26.

And Rio de Janeiro, slight rain with a high of 25 degrees Celsius.

Headline NewsChina, Singapore agree to lift ties, upgrade FTAChina and Singapore have agreed to redefine their bilateral relationship.

Ties have been elevated to "a partnership of all-round cooperation" during President Xi Jinping's visit to the city-state.

Also, the countries have decided to upgrade a seven-year-old free trade agreement.

The decision was announced after a meeting between Xi Jinping and his Singaporean counterpart, Tony Tan Keng Yam on Friday.

During the meeting, the president said China is willing to join hands with Singapore to build a community of common destiny between China and ASEAN, a 10-member regional bloc.

Singapore is taking a turn this year as the coordinating country of China-ASEAN relations.

President Xi flew to Singapore after wrapping up his state visit to Vietnam, another ASEAN nation.

China to continue with prudent monetary policyA new report from the Central Bank is suggesting China will continue its prudent monetary policies.

According to the report, the central bank will guard against slumping monetary demand amid restructuring, aiming to prevent too much liquidity in the market.

The central bank will also provide adapted monetary policy to help promote lending and social financing.

The report also suggests monetary policies should be channeled to the real economy more efficiently.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, has increased 13.1 percent year on year to 22.3 trillion U.S. dollars as of the end of September.

Premier encourages political advisors to help map five-year planChinese Premier Li Keqiang is encouraging political advisers to pool wisdom and suggestions while the country maps a new five-year plan.

The Premier made the remarks on Friday at a national meeting of the country's top political advisory body, the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Li said the 13th five-year plan period will be crucial for China to build a moderately prosperous society in all aspects.

The next five-year plan, from 2016 to 2020, highlights innovation, coordination, green development, opening-up and sharing.

It was approved at a party meeting last month.

Foreign Ministers Meet for Ukraine CrisisThe foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine met in Berlin on Friday to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, says the situation has already calmed down in eastern Ukraine, but it's not enough.

While violence has declined since a cease-fire was signed in Minsk eight months ago, Western diplomats say the 11-point peace plan is far from fully implemented.

Weekly Biz RoundupAnchor:

It's time to take a look back at some of the headlines from business over the past week in our Weekly Business Review.

In this edition, we will take you through the proposals for China's development blueprint for the next five years and tell you about the spat between two leading Chinese e-commerce firms.

CRI's Wenjie has more.

Reporter:

The Communist Party of China on Tuesday issued the full text of proposals for mapping out a blueprint for China's development over the next five years starting from 2016.

In explaining the proposals, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the country's annual growth rate should be no less than 6.5 percent in the next five years to realize the goal of doubling GDP and per capita income by 2020 on the basis of 2010.

Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, says China is able to maintain medium-high growth in the next Five-Year Plan.

"The next round of economic recovery in the world depends on technical innovation and industrial revolution. This provides a good opportunity for China as it promotes innovation at the same time. Meanwhile, our new urbanization process breeds a huge market demand. What's more, we have 1.3 billion people, 900 million labors and over 70 million market entities. Therefore, Chinese economy has great potential to grow."According to Tuesday's proposals, China will also accelerate opening up of capital market by gradually making the Chinese yuan convertible on the capital account and further expanding the investment quota for qualified foreign institutional investors.

The proposals also say China will establish a Green Development Fund to promote clean production methods and sustainable growth.

China's State Council unveiled a guideline for reforming the management of the country's state-owned assets on Wednesday.

A new business entity is going to be established to deal with state equity, staffing and the movement of funds in SOE's.

Liu Shangxi, director of Research Institute for Fiscal Science with the Ministry of Finance, explains the role of the new entity.

"The investment firm will work to manage the capital instead of providing specific products or services. The emerging of such a company as an intermediary agent will prevent the government from interfering in the concrete operation of enterprises. "At the same time, the government is promising to accelerate the elimination of outdated SOEs and dispose of inefficient assets.

State-funding is going to be eliminated from certain SOEs.

Others are going to go through a restructuring process.

Yet many difficulties still lie in the reform of state-owned asset management, and Minister of Finance Lou Jiwei noted that more work is needed to help deal with the difficulties.

"Fundamentally, as long as it's a set of stated-owned assets, it will be associated with the government. Then a series of complicated problems will be brought about. If we want to deal with the problems properly, we will need to leave some leeway, to make progress step by step, to make a balance between management and decentralization, and to encourage exploration."China's top legislature on Wednesday ratified the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank agreement.

The ratification is a significant step closer to the AIIB's formal establishment, slated for the end of this year, as China is the bank's largest shareholder.

The document itself outlines the financial share each founding member has to put in, as well as rules on policymaking, the bank's governance structure, as well as its business and operational systems.

On Thursday, China's industry regulator rebuffed the reported merger plans of the country's top three telecoms companies.

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spokesman Zhang Feng:

"The ministry will continue studying reforms in the telecom sector to figure out the next step, but has not taken any action toward the consolidation of telecom companies."His remarks followed media reports that the government is considering merging the country's three state-owned telecom service providers to improve efficiency and accelerate modernization of the information sector.

The three operators, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, exchanged executives in August, the first such adjustment in a decade.

On Wednesday, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing rebuffed earlier reports confirming the creation of a Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect system.

This came after the mainland's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan posted a report suggesting the new Connect system would be up-and-running before the end of the year.

The head of the PBOC is being quoted saying the Shenzhen Stock Connect, along with the Shanghai-Hong Kong Connect system, is further proof "the mainland capital market has been opening up to the outside world."HKEx has confirmed it's in discussions with its counterparts on mainland side connected to the establishment of the Shenzhen program.

The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect system was set up last year, which allows traders from the mainland and Hong Kong to trade shares listed on both exchanges.

China's securities regulator said Friday that it will restart initial public offerings after suspending them in July in the wake of a stock market rout which began in the middle of June.

Deng Ke, spokesman with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, told a press conference that IPOs of 28 companies will be allowed before the end of this year.

Due to sharp market fluctuations, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges said in early July that 28 scheduled IPOs would be suspended.

Among them, 10 companies that had accepted subscriptions for their shares were required to refund the money to investors.

Deng Ke said those 10 companies will go back into the IPO process first, adding that they may need about two weeks to go through some legal procedures.

On the corporate front,China's machine manufacturer Sany has settled its lawsuit against the U.S. government by filing the dismissal papers on Wednesday.

A subsidiary of SANY Heavy Machinery, Ralls Corp, sued the US government and the office of US President Barack Obama after they killed a wind-farm project in the US state of Oregon 3-years ago, citing national security concerns.

He Weiwen, former Chinese consular official in New York, says the new settlement actually works well for the Chinese firm.

"It has gone beyond our expectations... In fact, better than we expected. At first, I thought there would be little progress. But now, both sides have decided to back down. This allows Ralls to transfer its project in Oregon to a third party. I think it's quite good. It's not easy to arrive at this result given the situation here in the US."As part of the settlement, Ralls will be able to sell its Oregon wind farms to an investor.

On Friday, a court in Beijing agreed to hear an unfair competition lawsuit launched by e-commerce firm JD.com against Tmall.com.

JD.com is accusing Tmall of exaggeration on some of its outdoor and newspaper ads in September that promised same-day delivery in Beijing.

JD.com says only people living in certain parts of the city are eligible to get the service, and only on items ordered before a certain time of the day.

The company notes many people still have to wait until the next day to get their packages.

JD.com is demanding Tmall stop posting the ads and release a statement admitting they had been deceptive.

Alibaba, which owns Tmall, has yet to comment on the suit.

The lawsuit came after the State Administration for Industry and Commerce formally accepted JD.com's request to investigate Alibaba for possible unfair promotional practices.

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

SportsFerrer beats Isner in three sets at Paris MastersTennis action at the Paris Masters,Former champion David Ferrer has advanced to the semi-finals, beating John Isner 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.

Ferrer seemed to be racing to victory when he broke Isner in the eighth game of the second set.

That gave him a chance to serve out the match, but from 40-15 his composure deserted him and Isner forced a tie-breaker.

Isner unleashed a booming backhand winner down the line for 7-6, then sent down another huge serve which just clipped Ferrer's racket to clinch the set.

He called for a medical timeout after he dropped his serve to love, trailing 2-1.

Ferrer didn't let up and won the third set 6-2 to finish a match which lasted two hours, 26 minutes.

Ferrer will play Andy Murray in the last four.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter in hospital for evaluationSuspended FIFA President Sepp Blatter is in hospital, though a spokesman for the embattled football boss says it's just a "medical evaluation" and Blatter "expects to be home shortly."The checkup is described as being stress-related, with doctors telling the FIFA president he needs to relax.

The spokesman told the Associated Press that Blatter has been "under a huge pressure" and has been told to rest until next Thursday or Friday.

Blatter and UEFA President Michel Platini were each suspended for 90 days in the wake of a Swiss criminal case investigating financial misconduct at FIFA. The case centers on whether Blatter misused FIFA money by making a 2 million dollar payment to Platini.

Blatter has appealed the suspension. He had previously announced plans to step down as FIFA president, with the football world governing body planning to elect a replacement early next year.

Wingsuit Flying Contest in southwest China stars world's topnotch fliersThe "Wings for Love" 2015 World Cup, an air show organized by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association on November 4-6, also featured wingsuits this year.

Sebastian Alvarez is a Chilean athlete who has completed more than 450 Base jumps and over 400 wingsuit flights.

"I like it so much that I quit my job in order to become a professional sky diver and BASE jumper."Roberta Mancino is an Italian Base jumper, international model, skydiver, and also the world's first woman wingsuit flyer.

She says it is flying that makes the best moments of her life.

"Because it's fun. Modeling is boring. I love to fly. It's been always my dream since a long time and I kept doing it."Mancino has participated in more than 7,000 skydives.

All together 36 people from 12 countries took part in the "Wings for Love" 2015 World Cup contest.

Svitolina slips into Zhuhai semisTennis action here in China,Ukraine's Elina Svitolina battled back to beat Carla Suarez Navarro in a "crazy" match and grab the final spot in the WTA Elite Trophy semi-finals yesterday.

The world No. 20 narrowly lost a marathon, 80-minute first set but she hit back to win 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 and reach the last four in the inaugural tournament in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.

Svitolina will play Karolina Pliskova today, while top seed Venus Williams faces Roberta Vinci in the other semifinal.

If Williams wins the title she will return to the top 10 for the first time in more than four years.

Already qualified, Vinci expended little energy in her defeat to Slovakian alternate Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-1, 6-0, who replaced Caroline Wozniacki after the Dane withdrew.

Former world No. 1 Wozniacki pulled out with a left wrist injury caused by an accidental knife cut.

Seventh-seeded American Madison Keys won the tournament's final round-robin group match 6-3, 6-2 against China's No. 1, wildcard Zheng Saisai, with neither player capable of reaching the semis.

The tournament brings together 11 of the top players who did not qualify for last week's WTA Finals in Singapore, which was won by Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

The qualifiers compete in a four-group round robin format, with the winners of each group advancing to the semifinals.

Coach Li Yongbo Honored by Guinness World RecordsIn badminton,China's Sun Yu has reached the next round of the Korea Masters, beating Kaori Imabeppu of Japan in straight sets.

Fellow Chinese shuttler Shen Yaying has also progressed with an easy win over Chen Hsiao Huan from South Korea.

In off-court badminton news,The head coach of China's National Badminton team is going to be named in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Li Yongbo is going to be listed as the Coach who has won the most Sudirman Cups.

The 53-year old has led China to 10 Sudirman Cup victories from 1997 to 2015, missing out in 2003 when China lost to South Korea in the Finals.

The Sudirman Cup is a world mixed-team Badminton championship held every 2-years.

China won this year's event in Dongguan.

The next Sudirman Cup will be held in 2017 in Australia.

Tottenham edge Anderlecht for Europa League victoryIn football,Europa League action from this morning,It was Tottenham winning 2-1 win over Anderlecht, moving Tottenham to the top of Group J with 7-points.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino.

"I think we showed character. It's difficult to play in every game where we create chances and build from the back like our philosophy. Today I congratulate the players because I think we showed character and we competed. Sometimes it's not possible to play well, you need to show character and compete and suffer. Today will need to learn a lot."In other action,Borussia Dortmund booked a ticket into the Europa League knockout stage after thumping Gabala 4-nil.

This is Dortmund's third win in four games.

EntertainmentLang Lang Designs Watch in SwissRenowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang has offered his talent to a Swiss watch maker.

It was announced on Friday night that the pianist and watch experts have worked out plans for two new watches, which highlight the musician's signature and musical notes.

Asked about his design philosophy, the young musician said he hoped the watches would be distinguished by their musical elements, as well as be modern, fashionable and high-quality.

The special watches will be manufactured by Hublot, a Swiss luxury watchmaker. Hublot expects the "Lang Lang watch" will hit the market in March 2016 after an unveiling at the annual Basel World Watch Exhibition.

Angelina Jolie Pitt's 'By the Sea' PremieredAngelina Jolie and Brad Pitt attended the L.A. premiere of their film "By the Sea" on Thursday.

Written and directed by Jolie, the movie is inspired by her grief over the death of her mother in 2007, and also her 10-year relationship with Pitt.

But the actress-writer-director warned audiences not to read too much reality into the film.

"It's probably the most - this story is not our story. These issues are not our issues. But it is a personal film and it does deal with ... It's your own life. It's your own depression. It's your own questions about your mother. Grief. Where to put your pain. And it's something that I think connects in a way that it's hard to say that it's important or that people should enjoy it. But it's something that you say, 'Really, it's a piece of art. It's not commercial. And, maybe, if you're young and haven't lost or haven't been in a long relationship, you won't understand it. But if you have, it might connect.' And I hope it really does."Her co-star and husband, Brad Pitt, says his wife is a very good director.

"She's very decisive. She's really intuitive. Her instincts are really good with stories. So, I really trust her when she redirects a scene. But she sets a camera based from an actor's point of view, set on the emotions of the scene, rather than a beautiful show -- even though there are many beautiful shots in there."It's Jolie's third feature as director and follows last year's "Unbroken," which earned 160 million dollars worldwide.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lifted into Place in New YorkIt's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The famed Rockefeller Christmas Tree was lifted into place on Friday in New York City.

The nearly 24-meter-tall Norway Spruce was brought to Rockefeller Center on a flatbed truck, and a huge crane was used to lift it into place.

The tree came from the home of Al Asendorf, who's also surprised hearing the news.

"I didn't think it was big enough for down here. When it was said that it was coming down here, it was nice. I don't think a lot of it has hit me yet. It's a little slow in coming on. Probably when I go home and sit there and look at that big, empty space, I think, 'oh wow' and when I see it lit up, it will be like, 'man, that's something'."The annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2.

The tree will be on display through January 7, 2016.

Kate Winslet Unveils Christmas Window Displays for Store in ParisBritish actress Kate Winslet was in Paris on Friday to unveil Christmas window displays at one of Paris' famous department stores.

The Oscar winner showed up before curtains were opened on fairy-tale scenes of dancing and flying puppets.

It has been a long tradition - and a competition - for Paris' department stores to offer the best show, using puppets and other mechanical devices to attract shoppers and give out a bit of magic. And clearly, it works.

"It makes me think of Christmas and it's beautiful, it makes me want to get loads of presents and I think it is really well made, it's for everybody and... it's magical."It's been reported that one of the stores has used eight kilometers of fairy lights, nearly 200 thousand LED bulbs and 8 thousand flowers to decorate the windows and the building.

Gisele Bundchen Presents Her New Book in Sao PauloBrazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen launched her self-titled book in Sao Paulo on Friday celebrating her 20-year career.

The 536-page picture book contains more than 300 photographs.

Eager fans have queued for hours outside the bookstore to meet their heroine and get an autograph.

Bundchen retired from catwalk work in April this year but, according to Forbes is still the highest paid model in the world.

She will donate all her proceeds from the book to charity.

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

A recap of your headlines:

China and Singapore upgrade the bilateral relationship, as president Xi Jinping visits the city-state...

Xi Jinping will also sit down for an historic meeting with the leader of Taiwan, during his time in Singapore...

Russian authorities have suspended all flights to Egypt after a deadly plane crash...

In Sports...heading into the final four at the Paris Masters...

In Entertainment...a famous Chinese musician has partnered with a Swiss watch maker...

On behalf of the Beijing Hour staffers: I'm 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.