The Beijing HourEvening EditionSpencer Musick with you on this Thursday December 3rd 2015.

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

Coming up on the program this evening...

China inking some 6.5 billion US dollars worth of agreements and loans for infrastructure construction in South Africa....

Senior officials from China and US releasing a joint declaration during their high-level dialogue on fighting cybercrime...

And police in the United States identifying the 2 suspects killed in a gun battle following the deadly shooting in Southern California as the only two shooters...

In business... China taking steps to modernize and revitalize its coal industry while pledging to cut carbon emissions...

In sports... Another new Brazilian coach joining the Chinese Super League...

In entertainment.... EXO does well at the MNET music awards in Hong Kong...

Top NewsChinese, South African presidents vow to cement partnershipChina has signed 6.5 billion US dollars worth of agreements and loans to build infrastructure in South Africa.

These deals were signed in Pretoria during President Xi Jinping's state visit.

CRI's Min Rui reports.

Twenty-six bilateral agreements were signed on Wednesday. As part of the deals, China will lend 500 million U.S. dollars to Eskom, South Africa's national power supplier, to help its operations.

South African President Jacob Zuma hailed relations between the two sides.

"The volume of agreements indicates the amount of work that has been done in the past few months. We agreed that more could and should be done to increase our trade and investment figures".

Under the agreements, China will also help to build a car manufacturing plant in South Africa. It should begin exporting vehicles to other African countries by the end of 2017.

Chinese President Xi Jinping calls on the two countries to be forward-looking strategic partners.

The two sides have agreed to lift bilateral ties to a new height by fully implementing the 5-10 Years Strategic Plan on Cooperation, boosting cooperation in six areas including in special economic zones, the maritime economy, industrial capacity, energy, infrastructure, and human resources development.

President Xi also notes that China will facilitate South Africa's efforts to lead China-Africa cooperation on production capability across Africa and promote the continent's industrialization. China will also encourage more financing for South Africa, and support the early launch of the establishment of an African regional center for the New Development Bank for BRICS countries.

This is Xi Jinping's second visit to the country; the first was in 2013 when he toured several African states.

After his stay in Pretoria, the President will leave for Johannesburg to co-chair the Johannesburg Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

The summit is expected to be an historic event that will help strengthen China-Africa solidarity and development.

The two-day Johannesburg Summit, starting on Friday, is expected to adopt a declaration and action plan outlining measures that are aimed at consolidating China-Africa relations.

For CRI, this is Min RuiS Africa expects Xi's visit to strengthen bilateral relations: EnvoyChinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing state visit to South Africa has been hailed as an opportunity to strengthen long-term relations.

CRI's Ryan Price reports.

Dolana Msimang, South Africa's ambassador to China, says President Xi's visit to South Africa is the proof that China cherishes the two countries' friendship.

She says the visit is expected to bring the bilateral relationship to a new height:

"Last year, our president Jacob Zuma was here for his state visit, and they had action plans, so what we expect this year is to get progress on what has happened with the already agreed-upon arrangements. We also expect that the relationship will be deeper and deeper. The more we interact, the more our relationship is taken to greater heights."China is now South Africa's largest trading partner and export market.

South Africa is China's biggest trading partner in Africa.

The ambassador says she hopes President Xi Jinping's visit can inject more energy into the economic and trade cooperation.

"We now have 262 billion (US dollars) trade between our two countries. We want that to be even stronger; we want China to invest in South Africa. We are looking more on the technology side, on the industrial side, education side, exchange of human resources because we need that to be able to make the changes we want to do."President Xi Jinping has sat down with South African president Jacob Zuma, discussing ways to cement the bilateral partnership.

He and Zuma are set to co-chair the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in JohannesburgExhibitions will also be presented to show the achievements of the China-Africa forum in the 15 years since it was established.

For CRI, I'm Ryan PriceChina, US to enhance cooperation in cyber crime cooperationSenior officials from China and US have issued a joint declaration during their high-level dialogue on fighting cybercrime and related issues in Washington, D.C.

The dialogue, agreed to by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S counterpart Barack Obama, is the first high-level exchange of its kind between the two countries.

On top of the five-point declaration, China and the U.S. will strengthen information exchanges in the fight against cybercrime.

The two countries have also decided to conduct a cyber attack simulation in the spring of 2016.

The establishment of a hotline mechanism is also highlighted in the agreements.

The hotline aims to provide a timely means to tackle urgent cybercrime cases.

Both sides will also collaborate in fields such as fighting against cybercrime cases and cyber terrorism.

The two-day talks were co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

The next high-level joint dialogue of its kind is expected to be held in Beijing next June.

China to cut pollutant discharge at power plants by 60 pctChinese authorities are telling the operators of coal-fired power plants to upgrade technology, with a goal of cutting pollutant discharge by 60 percent before 2020.

The move is expected to save 100 million tons of raw coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 180 million tons annually.

Meantime, the country aims to cut total coal consumption to below 65 percent of primary energy use by 2017.

China's Carbon Emissions Commitment Heatedly Discussed at Paris Climate ConferenceChina's carbon emissions peak commitment has been heatedly discussed at a meeting held on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris.

Experts and scholars have introduced their research and shared their experience at the meeting titled 'Discussion on the Methodology and Pathways of Peaking in Developing Countries'.

Dai Yande, Deputy Director of Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, said that China's peak might be achieved ahead of time.

"According to early research and forecasting, China is going to reach its carbon emissions peak by around 2040. However, in order to deal with climate change positively, we decided to achieve that peak ahead of time. We see this goal as our international responsibility and a major decision to help solve the problem of regional environmental pollution in China."4 methods to achieve the goal have been put forward, including transforming the mode of development by adjusting the economic structure, promoting the transformation of the energy structure, adjusting energy consumption and simplifying lifestyle.

Earlier, Chinese special representative on climate change Xie Zhenhua said that China's climate commitments were specific, powerful and pragmatic.

He said China was seriously determined to stimulate the economic development with higher quality and higher efficiency to deal with climate change.

China has pledged to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

"Two-child Policy" Prompts Calls for Family-friendly Workplace RegulationsWith the long-standing "one-child policy" in China set to be amended, debate is underway about what impact the adoption of the "Two-child" policy is going to have on family dynamics.

CRI's Li Jianhua has more.

The so-called "one-child policy" was brought into law in the late 1970's as a way to limit population growth, given that the economy at the time was just starting to open up to the outside world, and the domestic resources, particularly in urban areas, were being stretched to the limit.

As the policy was focused on the country's urban population, minority groups and most rural areas were exempted from the changes.

But now that more than half of China's 1.34-billion people are living in urban areas, and China's economy has become the 2nd largest in the world, authorities have decided policy changes are needed.

National Health and Family Planning Commission Minister Li Bin.

"The implementation of the policy will optimize the demographic structure, increase the labor supply, ease pressure from an aging population, promote a balanced development of the population and help improve the health of the overall economy."However, HOW the changes to the "one-child policy" will affect INDIVIDUAL families is something a lot of people are starting to wonder about.

Rising prices brought on by the market economy, particularly in large cities in China, has increased the cost-of-living.

This is another factor young couples are also considering when even considering having ONE child, let alone a second.

30-year old Fan Juan married 5-years ago, and is employed at a research center which is staffed predominantly by women.

She says at this point, she has no plans to have a child, in part, because employers are also taking family dynamics into consideration when they hire people.

"My job isn't overly stressful. Still, employers are taking childbirth into consideration. My current boss told me during the recruitment interview that I have a promising future in my field, but said it would be best for me not to have baby for at least 3-years."How to tackle gender discrimination is something being actively debated in China.

Yang Juhua is a professor of Socio-demographics at Renmin University.

She says employers in China need to be proactive in advance of the "two-child policy.""Large and medium sized companies should coordinate with their local communities to find child-care services for their employees. If that's not an option, companies should then consider setting up a nursery at their firm."But moves like this, while convenient for employees, can be cost-prohibitive for employers.

Because of this, Yang Juhua says the government can make it easier for companies by offering family-friendly policies.

"A tax cut could be feasible. All companies have to pay taxes. But if the authorities can provide tax cuts to companies based on the proportion of female employees they have and how many are going to have a second child, it could be an incentive for employers to make family-friendly changes."Once the "2-child policy" takes effect, China's population is expected to grow by an additional 20-million per year.

This could mean around 30-million people will be joining the work force every year by 2050.

China's overall population, at 1.34-billion, is expected to hit 1.45-billion in the next 15-years.

For CRI, I'm Li Jianhua.

Doctors Without Borders President Visits ChinaDoctors Without Borders' International President has made an official visit to China to meet with Chinese government officials and organizations.

Dr. Joanne Liu on Thursday talked to CRI's Victor Ning about her organization's latest work.

In recent months, the Syrian conflict and other unrest have caused an unprecedented influx of migrants to Europe. Dr. Joanne Liu says Doctors without Borders, or MSF by its French name Médecins Sans Frontières, has been actively providing aid to migrants and refugees, both in their home countries and in Europe.

"We are working actually in all the neighboring countries of Syria, so we have worked in refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan since the beginning of the conflict. But as well, we have been working in Greece, where people are landing from the Agean Sea. We have been doing as well some rescue activities in the sea. We have accompanied as well the migrant and refugees flow across Europe."Recent airstrikes in war-torn areas have brought significant risks for MSF-run hospitals. Within the last week, two of its clinics were bombed in Syria and Yemen. In October, a US airstrike hit an MSF hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan and killed 30 people. The US military has said the attack was partially due to "human errors."Liu says the US investigation does not provide comfort or assurance to MSF about its future safety in war zones, adding that MSF needs further information to better protect its staff.

"We would like to make sure we went to the bottom of that story. After that, we would like to have an open and honest discussion with the US and other nations today at war to discuss and agree on what are the rules of the game in war zones. We are taking for granted that the rules of the game are the application of the Geneva Conventions."The treaties of the Geneva Conventions were established in 1949 regarding wartime humanitarian issues. She says the US investigation of the bombing showed some of the US rules of engagement differed from those of the Geneva Conventions treaties.

Since last year, MSF has been highly recognized internationally for its contribution to the recent global fight against the Ebola crisis.

While talking about that particular episode, Dr. Liu praised China for its active participation in defeating Ebola.

"MSF has being ringing the alarm in the early quarters of 2014. It was very difficult to get traction from the international community. We came and discussed on different occasions with the Chinese authority. China has responded to the call, in terms of providing equipment and a laboratory, as well as caring for patients in an Ebola treatment center. Of all the nations we have called upon, China is one of the exceptions that have sent doctors in the field to care for Ebola-infected patients."Commenting on the recent Nobel Prize for medicine given to Chinese scientist Tu Youyou, Dr. Liu said Tu's malaria research has a significant impact on treatment methods.

"Her work is a game changer in terms of treatment for Malaria. Actually MSF as an international organization has been pushing for the change of protocols for the treatment of Malaria. So for us, we are very very supportive. Particularly on a personal level, I'm quite happy that the work of Tu Youyou has been recognized finally after all those years."Dr. Liu arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a six-day and her first official visit to China.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.

Two Southern California Shooting Suspects Identified: Local PoliceUS police have identified the 2 suspects killed in a gun battle with police following a deadly shooting in Southern California as the only two shooters.

The incident, erupting at a holiday party at a local social services agency in San Bernardino City, has left some 14 people dead and 17 others injured.

CRI's Xie Cheng reports.

San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said at a news briefing that the 2 dead suspects were identified as a man and a woman who were both in their late twenties.

"The first man has been identified as Syed Rizwan Farook. He is 28 years old. I am told that he is US-born. The person that was with him is a female, she is deceased as well. Her name is Tashfeen Malik. She is 27 years old. "He added that both of the two were heavily armed with fire weapons, and that a suspected explosive device was also found in the Inland Regional Center.

A detail has also been revealed that Farook left the holiday party early under circumstances that were described as angry, which might have been a key factor leading to the mass shooting.

The tragedy has sparked wide condolences and condemnation.

Farook's brother-in-law Farhan Khan expressed his grief at the incident.

"I just cannot express how sad I am for what happened today. I am.., condolences to the people who lost their life, I am very sad that people lost their life, that there are victims out there I wish speed recovery to them, again I am in shock that something like this could happen. "He added that he was still in shock and had no idea why Farook would do such a thing.

For his part, U.S. President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to take steps to stop such tragedies from happening again.

"My hope is that we're able to contain this particular shooting and, and we don't yet know what the motives of the shooters are, but what we do know is, is that there are steps we can take to make Americans safer and that we should come together in a bipartisan basis at every level of government to make these rare as opposed to normal. We should never think that this is something that just happens in the ordinary course of events, because it doesn't happen with the same frequency in other countries."The state's Muslim community has also condemned the incident.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

UK fighter jets left military base in CyprusTwo Royal Air Force GR4 Tornados returned to British air base Akrotiri in Cyprus after carrying out airstrikes in Syria early on Thursday.

The warplanes returned hours after the British Parliament voted late on Wednesday to authorise air attacks against Islamic State group targets there.

Their exact destination was not immediately clear and there was no comment from British authorities.

After more than 10 hours of tense debate, British lawmakers voted in favour of the air strikes.

Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow announced the results of the vote.

"The Aye's to the right, 397. The No's to the left, 223. So the Aye's have it."In addressing parliament on Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron said high-precision, laser-guided Brimstone missiles attached to the Tornado GR4 bombers would help to make a real difference.

The bombers will hit the de facto Islamic State capital of Raqqa and its oil-trading business.

France and the United States are already bombing Islamic state militants in Syria.

For more on this, CRI's Liu Kun earlier talked with Mike Bastin, Director of The China Business Centre based in London.

Mike Bastin, Director of The China Business Centre based in London, speaking with CRI's Liu Kun.

Australia: analysis backs search area for MH370Australian authorities said new analysis confirms they've likely been searching in the right place for missing Malaysian airliner MH370.

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the new analysis pointed to the possibility that the aircraft most likely had come to rest in the southern part of the current search area.

"The search area has not moved. However, this additional work has tended to pinpoint further that the search area at the southern end of the seventh arc and the southern end of the original search area is the most prospective. And it is also recommended that we widen that search area a little and so the purple areas on the map, the new area which is considered to be the most prospective. The northern parts of the arc are considered to be less prospective."Searchers have been combing a 120-thousand square-kilometre part of the Indian Ocean since last year, but have yet to turn up any trace of the missing flight.

A wing flap was found in July washed up on Reunion Island.

Ships using side-scan sonar and an underwater drone fitted with a video camera have so far scoured more than 70-thousand square kilometres.

The search of the entire band is expected to be completed by June 2016.

Appeals court changes Oscar Pistorius conviction to murderFormer Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius' has been found guilty of murder.

South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeals overturned an earlier manslaughter verdict and convicted Pistorius to murder.

Pistorius is currently under house arrest having served 10 months of his previous 5-year sentence. He will have to return to court for a new sentence to be decided.

Pistroius now faces at least 15 years in prison.

Brazil's Lower House Speaker Opens Impeachment Proceedings against PresidentBrazil's Lower House Speaker Eduardo Cunha has opened impeachment Proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff on a variety of charges.

Cunha also dismissed the idea that his decision was motivated by personal or political reasons.

Earlier in September, opposition parties filed the request accusing Rousseff of violating the country's fiscal laws and manipulating government finances to benefit her re-election campaign.

Headline NewsBeijing mulls congestion chargeThe Beijing traffic authority is looking into the possibility of a congestion fee in certain areas.

The city now has 5.6 million vehicles, and vehicle emissions account for 31 percent of the city's smog sources.

Thus authorities say they will further tighten its traffic controls, and deliberate on policies that will encourage companies to adopt different working hours.

Beijing has rolled out various policies to address air quality and congestion, such as restricting vehicles from using the roads on one out of five weekdays based upon the last digits on their license plates.

Former Yunnan vice governor sentenced for 12 yrs imprisonmentThe former vice governor of Yunnan Province has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for accepting bribes, worth 2.5 million U.S. dollars.

The 53-year-old Shen Peiping has pleaded guilty of seeking benefits for local companies in mergers iron ore sales and copper exploitation from 2000 to 2012.

That was when Shen acted as Communist Party chief of Tengchong County and mayor of Simao City in Yunnan.

A local court in Beijing says Shen's real estate property has already been seized and a further two million yuan of his personal assets will be confiscated.

Four People Sentenced to Death for Murder and Fraud at North China mines4 people have been sentenced to death in north China's Shanxi Province for murder, fraud and blackmail in a case involving fake mining accidents.

They were suspected of killing 3 people between 2009 and 2011 in private coal mines, and later hired people to pose as the victims' relatives so as to demand compensation, cheating mine owners of over 890 thousand yuan, around 140 thousand U.S. dollars.

The man who masterminded the scheme was also fined 80 thousand yuan.

All the defendants have appealed the verdict.

Turkey to regret shooting down Russian fighter: PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin says Turkey will regret shooting down a Russian Su-24 fighter jet near the Syrian-Turkish border.

In his annual State of the Union address on Thursday, Putin stressed that Russia is aware of who in Turkey is earning money from illegal oil trade and abetting terrorism.

Meanwhile, Putin has warned that Russia's sanctions against Ankara might not be limited to trade.

However, Putin says Moscow has no intention to engage in saber-rattling with Ankara over the downing of Russian jet as Russia considers the Turkish people friendly.

Russia has slapped a series of economic sanction measures on Turkey due to its refusal to issue any apology in the wake of the incident.

Biz ReportsStocksTurning over to business news, starting with the closing market numbers in China.

Mainland markets closed in the positive territory on Thursday, as the new PMI data clocked in, stirring hopes for government stimulus measures among investors.

98 shares on the two mainland bourses hit their daily limit of 10 percent.

The Shanghai Composite Index saw its fourth consecutive increase, up 1.4 percent.

The Shenzhen Component index gained 2.1 percent.

The small-cap ChiNext Index climbed 3.6 percent.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Heng Seng Index lost 0.3 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets fell on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments on the expected coming interest rate hike.

Japanese benchmark Nikkei ended almost flat.

Investors were also hesitant to take bold moves ahead of the outcome of a European Central Bank policy meeting later in the day.

South Korea's KOSPI also dropped 0.8 percent.

Singapore's Straits Times index dropped 0.2 percent.

And finally, Australia's ASX/200 retreated by 0.5 percent.

China to help coal industry to cast off depressionChina's top economic planner has said it is mulling measures to tackle overcapacity in the country's coal sector.

The National Development and Reform Commission says it will take measures to phase out the use of inferior coal and reshuffle coal companies.

According to the NDRC, the output of coal in the first ten months declined 3.6 percent than the same period of last year.

Large state owned coal miners saw a total of 22.3 billion yuan or 3.5 billion U.S. dollar deficit over the past ten months, facing downward pressure.

The move comes as the country's cabinet decided to cut coal power emission by 60 percent in 5 years on Wednesday.

China to Establish Multiple Pilot Zones to Open up Financial ReformsChina's Cabinet has decided to set up pilot zones to open up financial reforms in the country.

The decision was announced in a statement released after a regular meeting of the State Council on Wednesday.

One pilot zone will be established in Taizhou of east China's Zhejiang province with a focus on advancing innovation, online services and financing for micro and small businesses.

The second one is in northeastern province of Jilin, aiming to launch financial services in the agriculture sector.

The meeting also said that a new pilot zone will be established in each of the existing Guangdong, Tianjin and Fujian free trade zones to develop cross-strait financial co-operation.

This was announced after the International Monetary Fund admitted Chinese currency into its Special Drawing Right basket on Monday.

Shopping Spree Continues in China on Black FridayAfter the Double 11 shopping event, Chinese consumers continued the spending spree on Black Friday last month.

The latest stats from payment platform Alipay show that the number of Chinese shopping overseas increased seven-fold compared to last year.

People from second and third tier cities became the new force in online overseas shopping, though consumers in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing continued to lead.

60 percent of the users on e-commerce platform Yangmatou experienced their first overseas shopping on Black Friday.

Shoppers from Tibet spent 200 US dollars each, on average, surprisingly overtaking their peers in many other Chinese cities.

Overall, the focus on Black Friday appeared to be on brand-name bags, maternal clothing, and child health care products.

For more on the Black Friday sales in China, the Beijing Hour's Shane Bigham spoke earlier with Cao Can, CRI's Financial Commentator.

China's service sector activity increases slightly in Nov.

Business activity in China's service sector eased last month on softened demand.

The Caixin China General Services Purchasing Managers' Index clocked in at 51.2 last month, down slightly from 52 in October.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 represents contraction.

The private survey attributed the slight drop to relatively weak market conditions and softened client demand.

Caixin Chief Economist He Fan suggested that future fiscal and monetary policies must be coordinated and large-scale stimulus should be avoided as much as possible.

ICBC to sell rand bond to build infrastructure in South AfricaChina's biggest lender by assets, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, said it plans to sell 10 billion rand or 696 million U.S. dollars worth of bonds in South Africa, making it the first Asian issuer of rand-denominated debt.

The deal was announced in a statement by the ICBC.

The statement also said Standard Bank will issue the bonds that aim to help infrastructure projects in South Africa.

The signing ceremony was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Some 6.5 billion dollars of agreements have been signed between China and South Africa, mostly on infrastructure projects, as Chinese President Xi Jinping is now in the country on a state visit.

Evergrande Seal 2.1 Billion New World DealA subsidiary of Evergrande Real Estate Group has agreed to buy 4 assets from a unit of New World China Land, marking the biggest purchase in China's real estate business.

Evergrande said in a statement that the deal was worth 13.5 billion yuan or 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.

This is another investment by the third largest developer in China whose acquisitions have mounted to some 6 billion U.S. dollars in the past 6 months.

The developer purchased 1.6 billion U.S. dollars last month for Mass Mutual Tower in Hong Kong and bought 50 percent stake into an insurance company.

Evergrande reported a sales volume of some 27 billion dollars in the first 11 months of this year, up 43 percent from the same period last year.

Baidu is becoming default search engine for Amazon's Kindle in ChinaBaidu said it would become the default search engine for Amazon's Kindle and Fire hardware platforms in China.

The largest search engine in China announced the deal on its website.

The deal is set taking effect on this Thursday.

The company will also partner with Amazon on search services, distribution and video content.

China to get first self-built cruise linerA Chinese company is planning to build a cruise ship here in China, tapping booming tourist demand.

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is set to build a ship, the first of its kind in China, with technical support from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

The construction is expected to start in 2017.

SportsMenezes agrees to contract will Shangdong LunengBeginning with some off-pitch football news from China,Former coach for Brazil's national squad Mano Menezes has agreed to a contract with Chinese Super League club Shandong Luneng.

Menezes says at a press conference that the Chinese side will make the final decision which will be announced by Sunday.

"The talks went well - and I don't like to fool anyone - but we don't have a final deal. And you can only make it official when you have a final agreement. And when that happens, it must come from the club who will reach the deal, officially. The deal is not irreversible. It's a way forward, but we must wait until it becomes official."Brazilian media are reporting that the only loose end is a two-million US dollar fee demanded by Menezes' current club Cruzeiro to break his contract.

If they ink the deal Menezes will take over Shangdong Luneng from fellow Brazilian Cuca who led the team to a third place finish in the Chinese Super League last season and qualified for the AFC Champions League.

Fifty-three-year-old Menezes had an unsuccessful 2-year stint with the Brazilian national team after the 2010 World Cup.

His side Cruzeiro in Brazil's Serie A have remained undefeated in their last 12 games and are now eighth on the table.

Zhang Chengdong makes regular season debut for Vallecano at Copa Del ReyElsewhere in football,The only Chinese player in Spain's top football division Zhang Chengdong has made his debut in a regular season game for Rayo Vallecano.

Zhang made the start for the La Liga team on the left back wing in their Copa Del Rey encounter with Getafe which Vallecano won 2-0.

He was called off at the 66th minute for an ankle injury.

His team boss Paco Jemez says he is amazed at Zhang's performance.

Zhang joined Vallecano from Beijing Guo'an on loan last July and is yet to play on La Liga field.

In other action from the Copa Del Rey,Real Madrid defeated Cadiz 3-1 but are facing expulsion from the tournament for fielding an illegitimate player.

Denis Cheryshev has an one-match suspension which he has not served. He started against Cadiz and scored three minutes into the game.

He was replaced within a minute of the start of the second half.

In other results,Barcelona hammered Villanovense 6-1,Valencia beat Barakaldo 3-1,And Real Betis downed Gijon 2-0.

Liverpool beat Southampton 6-1 to make League Cup semi-finalsMore football action, from England,Liverpool demolished Southampton 6-1 to become the last semi-finalist at the League Cup.

Sadio Mane fired Southampton to a first-minute lead but Divock Origi's hat trick sealed the Liverpool thrashing.

Origi has had his disagreements with manager Juergen Klopp but is grateful for Klopp's faith in him.

"I think the manager has shown me confidence today and he let me start. I wanted to reward him and also the supporters. In the beginning as a young kid to arrive in England is never easy but I worked so hard in training and today it paid off so I am very happy."Klopp says the young striker was "really good" in the game and needs to be patient for future trainings and games.

Liverpool have been drawn away to face Stoke City in the round-robin semi-finals.

The other semi-finals are between Manchester City and Everton.

More FIFA officials arrested in hotel raidIn other football news,Law enforcement officials have made two more arrests in the investigation of FIFA during a pre-dawn raid of a Zurich hotel.

Groups of police went in the hotel and left with suspects in two cars. No details have been given.

Authorities were targeting current and former senior football officials on charges that include racketeering, money laundering and fraud.

Meanwhile, a court in Trinidad and Tobago has decided to adjourn the hearing into the potential extradition of former FIFA vice president Jack Warner to the United States.

The hearing was pushed back to February.

CBA/NBA resultsIn basketball action from the CBA,Stephon Marbury toiled to a game high 27 points but sluggish form from teammates threw his efforts away as the Beijing Ducks went down to Liaoning 93-87.

Beijing will need to work on their free throws in the next three games if they want to avoid a losing streak against two of the top three teams.

In other CBA results,Second placed Guangdong and Zhejiang Lions beat Shanghai and Sichuan respectively,Bayi downed Tongxi 102-92,Shandong moved past Shenzhen 102-95.

Over in the NBA,The Golden State Warriors' winning streak continues with their 20th victory, a 116-99 success over the Charlotte Hornets where Stephen Curry hit 40 points.

They equaled the best start of the season in North America's sports leagues.

The LA Lakers defeated Washington 108-104,And Philadelphia couldn't do it again against the New York Knicks who knocked them 99-87.

In more action,The NBA returns to Mexico City where the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings face-off in the latest of the NBA's Global Games.

It is the third regular season NBA game to be staged in the Mexican capital. Houston faced Minnesota last year while the game for the year before between San Antonio and Minnesota was canceled.

This year's game is scheduled for tomorrow morning Beijing time.

Marco Fu makes quarter-finals at UK ChampionshipTurning over to snooker,Marco Fu from Hong Kong has had a thrilling 6-4 victory against Shawn Murphy to reach the last eight at the UK Championship.

Fu hit breaks of 93 and 104 to level 2-2 and went up onward.

He could potentially set up a Chinese derby if Liang Wenbo wins his match against Tom Ford.

World number one Mark Selby wrapped up a 6-1 victory against Thailand's Dechawat Poomjaeng.

Another big name to exit is Peter Ebdon who suffered a 6-2 defeat at the hands of David Grace.

EntertainmentEXO and Bigbang Become Biggest Winners at MAMA 2015South Korean boyband EXO and Bigbang have won big at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards, which wrapped up on Wednesday night in Hong Kong.

Both grabbed four awards at the gala, EXO and Bigbang are the biggest winners of the night.

EXO's leader Suho could hardly hold back his excitement, as the group was crowned Best Male Group, Best Asian Style, Album of the Year, and Global Fans Choice for Male artists.

"I said this here last year which is that we are never satisfied with achievement. We are not satisfied with our performance today as well. We will think about tomorrow and will work harder, so that when we come back here next year, we can present to you better music and performance. Thank you. "This while Bigbang took home Artist of the Year, Worldwide Favorite Artist, Song of the Year, and Best Music Video.

Bigbang member Taeyang thanks the fans after winning awards at MAMA.

"We received many great awards this year with great support from our fans. For us, MAMA has always been like a finale. We are truly thankful for the awards we won today. We will continue to do our best".

They also grab netizens' attention by posting a selfie with A-list special guest Chow Yun Fat on Instagram and Sina Weibo, saying they 'had a lot of fun on the MAMA stage with Chow Yun Fat".

Taiwan pop diva Jolin Tsai has been named Best Asian Artist-Mandarin at the ceremony.

Established as a music festival, MAMA was later developed into a music show produced by a music television channel in South Korea.

'Mr.Six' Unveils Final PosterChinese director Guan Hu's action comedy film 'Mr. Six' has released the final poster today.

All the leading cast, including Feng Xiaogang, Wu Yifan and Li Yifeng, showed up in the poster in their character images from the film.

The film is a modern tale of Mr. Six, a middle aged former kingpin who reigned over the Beijing streets for years.

As he lives in a world that is bound to be destroyed by modernity, the film portrays the battle between him and a much younger drag-racing street gang leader.

Renowned director Feng Xiaogang has won his first best actor title at this year's Golden Horse Award, for his role as Mr. Six in the film.

'Mr. Six' is scheduled to hit big screens in China on December 24th.

Annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony Kicks off in NYCThe ceremony to light the Rockefeller Christmas Tree kicked off in New York City on Wednesday night local time, with stars like Sting, Andy Grammer, and Michael Buble giving performances.

A 10-ton Christmas tree with 45,000 LED lights covering about five miles of wire has come alive to cap the city's annual ritual.

American singer Andy Grammer expressed his excitement at the event.

"It's so sweet to be here, what an incredible night. It's actually not too cold, it's like the perfect temperature, to get to be a part of this is really really incredible. I'm super blessed, I just got to the Macy's day parade, so to be here as well, I'm getting a full dose of New York City and the holiday's, it's amazing."Tens of thousands haven taken part in the celebration, taking a close-up view of the show.

Having started in 1931, this holiday tradition is also televised live each year by NBC.

'Star Wars' Fashion and Charity Event Kicks off in NYCJohn Boyega and Daisy Ridley walked the red carpet for 'Star Wars' fashion event in New York City on Wednesday night.

Entitled 'Force 4 Fashion', over a dozen garments based mainly on new characters in the latest film, and some from the previous ones have been auctioned off at the charity event.

John Boyega, who plays a leading role in the upcoming 'Star Wars' installment, feels the film series and fashion go together, with one exception - the yellow jacket that Luke wore.

"But, apart from that there are some great costumes and great clothes, especially in the prequels. I just came from the 'Star Wars' exhibition, where they have a lot of those pieces there, and if you see them close up, it's actually amazing how much thought and how much creative energy has gone into creating these pieces, so I can't wait to see Finn's inspired wear."Disney and Bloomingdale's are teaming up for the fundraising initiative; proceeds from the auction will go to the Child Mind Institute.

Directed and produced by J.J.Abrams, 'The Force Awakens' is set to open in the US on December 18th.

'Carol' Wins Big at 2015 NYFCC AwardsCate Blanchett and Rooney Mara's 'Carol' dominated this year's New York Film Critics Circle Awards, by grabbing four out of 14 awards.

This British-American romantic drama took home Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Cenematography.

Directed by Todd Haynes, the film is based on a 1952 novel named 'The Price of Salt'.

Set the plot in 1950s New York, it portrays the relationship between a wealthy, married woman and an ambitious shop girl, as they meet in a store during Christmas time.

Meanwhile, Michael Keaton wins the title of best actor with his performance in 'Spotlight', and 'Brooklyn's' Saoirse Ronan has been crowned best actress.

'Twilight' star Kristen Stewart surprised the critics by taking the title of best supporting actress, for her role in the 2014 film 'Clouds of Sils Maria'.

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

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

China inking some 6.5 billion US dollars worth of agreements and loans for infrastructure construction in South Africa....

Senior officials from China and US releasing a joint declaration during their high-level dialogue on fighting cybercrime...

And police in the United States identifying the 2 suspects killed in a gun battle following the deadly shooting in Southern California as the only two shooters...

On behalf of all of us on the CRI news team, this is Spencer Musick in Beijing. Join us for the next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together...