The Beijing HourMorning EditionShane Bigham with you on this Friday December 4th, 2015.

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

Coming up on the program ..

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, co-chaired by the Chinese President, starts today in Johannesburg...

Senior officials from China and the US have issued a joint declaration on fighting cyber crime...

and details are beginning to emerge about the couple involved in the mass shooting in southern California...

In Business...the IMF backs the policy moves announced Thursday by the European Central Bank...

In Sports...dozens of Italian track athletes face doping bans...

And in Entertainment...the sequel to Chinese rom-com Go Lala Go opens in theaters today...

Top NewsFOCAC to Kick off TodayThe Forum on China-Africa Cooperation starts later on today in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The two-day summit is to be co-chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Ahead of the summit, Xi Jinping delivered a written address, urging China and African countries to work together for common development within the framework of the summit.

The summit is expected to adopt a declaration and action plan outlining measures aimed at consolidating China-Africa relations.

Meanwhile Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has revealed more details about the forum.

"President Xi Jinping, on behalf of the Chinese government, will announce a series of important measures to show its firm determination and sincere willingness in promoting China-Africa cooperation and supporting African development."He added the Chinese government has prioritized key areas like finance and investment, peace and security, people-to-people exchanges, and regional integration to boost Africa's socioeconomic progress.

China-Africa summit expected to explore new growth opportunities for both sidesAnchorObservers from both sides are voicing hopes that the upcoming summit in Johannesburg will help to boost economic and cultural ties between China and African countries.

CRI's Niu Honglin has more.

ReporterZhou Yuxiao, former Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, says the summit is a channel to connect China's 13th Five Year Plan and Africa's Agenda 2063.

"To promote capacity cooperation, transferring high-quality surplus capacity to Africa, to accelerate industrialization and agricultural modernization in Africa will be one of the highlights of this summit."Despite slowing growth in both regions, China and Africa hope to boost their trade on the occasion of this summit.

Garth Strachan with South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry says China and Africa are now seeking a restructuring of their export profile.

"Somewhere in the region, 90 percent of the exports to the People's Republic of China are primary commodities and there is agreement in the relationship and the strategic partnership that we need to change that profile in the direction of the export of more value-added products."Debt levels among African countries is also a big area of concern. Some observers hope that China will provide relief for these countries.

Managing director of Emerging Markets & Africa, Martyn Davies, said Chinese policy banks have been the single largest lenders to African states.

"Many of these loans are underwritten by sovereign guarantees and many of these loans are also underwritten by commodities, i.e. high commodity prices. In light of recent, the last 12 months, recent collapse of commodities prices - oil, solid commodities, a lot of these maturity and the repayment of these debts clearly need to be pushed out."Besides capacity cooperation, cultural exchange is also expected to be among the topics during the summit.

Liu Hongwu, director of Institute of African Studies of Zhejiang Normal University, says China and Africa can strengthen their cooperation between think tanks and universities, learn more from each other's culture and work together to protect cultural heritages.

"All of these events are open to public. With more cultural exchanges, the relationship between China and Africa will be reinforced."The Johannesburg Summit is the second summit in the 15 years since the FOCAC' inception, and the first to be held in Africa.

Upon his arrival in Pretoria, President Xi Jinping has said the summit will serve as a milestone in pushing all-round development of China-Africa relations and promoting a more balanced, inclusive and sustainable development of the world.

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.

China, 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 cyber crime and related issues.

The dialogue in Washington, D.C., 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 cyber crime.

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

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

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

Both sides will also collaborate in the fight against cyber terrorism.

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

The next high-level dialogue on cyber crime is expected to be held in Beijing next June.

China, Japan restart ruling party talksThe ruling parties of China and Japan have met with each other for the first time in six years.

Senior members of the Communist Party of China and the Liberal Democratic Party gathered in Beijing on Thursday for the fifth meeting under an exchange that was suspended as tensions rose between the two sides.

An official with the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference told delegates at the opening ceremony that China and Japan should China and Japan should properly handle their disputes to tap potential for cooperation.

Relations have been strained by historical territorial disputes, particularly over the Diaoyu Islands. China has also accused Japan of attempting to whitewash its aggression during World War II.

138,867 officials punished in 3-year frugality campaignIt's been reported that over 138 thousand officials in China have been punished for violating austerity rules since the leadership launched a frugality campaign three years ago.

The number was released by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft body, on Thursday.

According to the commission, seven provincial and ministerial level officials were among the punished.

Lavish weddings and funerals, spending public money on dining and traveling, and the giving and receiving of illicit gifts were included in the violations.

The commission says detailed data indicates a drastic increase of violations in 2015 concerning unauthorized spending compared to the previous year.

"Two-child Policy" Prompts Calls for Family-friendly Workplace RegulationsAnchorWith 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.

ReporterThe 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.

Polluters to compensate Chinese governmentChina is planning to allow the government to claim compensation from polluting enterprises and individuals.

The State Council announced on Thursday that a trial of the policy will be rolled out in a few provinces before going nationwide in 2018.

It will cover air, water, and soil pollution, along with damage to plants and animals.

China already allows social organizations to initiate public interest litigation on environmental damage.

The new system is aimed more at damage to state property.

Beijing Mulls over Congestion ChargeBeijing is planning to introduce a congestion charge on road users.

According to the city's traffic authority, a congestion fee will be charged at certain areas of the city.

Beijing will also further tighten its traffic controls, and encourage companies to adopt different working hours to ease traffic pressure.

Close to 5.6 million vehicles vie for space on Beijing's roads. This means that vehicles have only 18 meters of road each.

Vehicle emissions are also blamed for causing 31 percent of the city's smog.

Beijing has rolled out a series of policies to reduce air pollution and road congestion, such as restricting vehicles from using the roads on one out of five weekdays based upon the last digits on their license plates.

Other big cities like Singapore and London has already introduced congestion charges to improve traffic flow.

Female California Shooter Has a Pakistani PassportUS authorities say the woman who helped her husband kill 14 people at a social services center in Southern California had a Pakistani passport and came to the U.S. on a fiancee visa.

Police say Syed Farook, a U.S. citizen, traveled internationally and entered the U.S. with Tashfeen Malik in July 2014.

After a raid at the shooters' home, San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan said it appeared that they were planning another attack.

" I will confirm that the search that took place revealed that there were 12 pipe bomb-type devices found in that house or in the garage of that house. There were also hundreds of tools, many of which could be used to construct IEDs or pipe bombs. And in addition to that, they had other material to have produced some additional bombs as well. There were another 2,000 9-millimeter rounds found at that house. Over 2,500 223 rounds that were found at that house. 2,500. And there were an additional several hundred 22 long rifle rounds that were found there."Burguan also says the number of people wounded in the mass shooting has risen from 17 to 21.

The motive for the shooting is not yet known.

President Barack Obama says it's possible that it was related to terrorism, but authorities still don't know.

He says it's also possible it was workplace-related or that there were mixed motives.

Obama says the nation must make it harder to commit acts of violence.

"We all have a part to play and I do think as the investigation moves forward, it's going to be important for all of us including our legislators to see what we can do to make sure that when individuals decide they want to do somebody harm we'll make it a little hard for them to do it because right now it's just too easy."The FBI is now taking over the investigation from all local authorities.

US indicts 16 more in football corruption probeU.S. authorities have named 16 new FIFA corruption defendants.

The new indictment was released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday, hours after two FIFA vice-presidents were arrested in Zurich.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the individuals were mainly from the Western Hemisphere and the indictment deals in part with allegations of corruption in the award of broadcast rights for soccer.

"Each of the 16 new defendants is charged with racketeering, conspiracy and other crimes in connection with their sustained abuse of their positions for financial gain."Among the defendants, Alfredo Hawit of Honduras and Juan ?ngel Napout of Paraguay were arrested in a pre-dawn raid by Swiss police at a hotel in Zurich near the headquarters of FIFA.

U.S. authorities said they were making progress in their investigation and pointed to eight people who, since being arrested in May, had agreed to plead guilty.

The Justice Department said that 27 people in all have been charged since May, accused of running schemes designed to solicit and receive more than $200 million in bribes and kickbacks to sell media and marketing rights for soccer tournaments and matches.

FIFA's acting president Issa Hayatou said they will continue to cooperate fully with U.S. and Swiss authorities.

"The US Department of Justice has proceeded to a series of arrests today. The investigation is going on, and FIFA is ready to participate fully. In the light of what is going on, all this we can say is that FIFA will not make any other comment. Events this morning underscore the necessity to establish a complete programme of reforms. "FIFA's executive committee has approved a package of reforms in Zurich to clean up the organization.

Changes include taking many decision-making powers away from the executive panel, which is to be renamed the FIFA Council and is to include more members.

Future presidents and council members will be limited to 12 years in office and face strict integrity checks.

FIFA's 209 member federations must vote on the changes on the 26th of February.

Putin Threatens Turkey with More SanctionsRussian President Vladimir Putin is threatening further sanctions against Turkey for the downing of a Russian warplane.

During his annual state of the union address on Thursday, Putin said that Turkey will regret "more than once" the downing of the Su-24 on the Syrian Turkish border last week.

"But if anyone thinks that having committed this awful war crime, the murder of our people, that they are going to get away with some measures concerning their tomatoes or some limits on construction and other sectors, they are sorely mistaken. We will remind them what they did more than once. And they will regret what they did more than once. And we, we do know what needs to be done."Moscow has responded to the downing of the jet by deploying long-range air defense missile systems to its air base in Syria and imposing an array of economic sanctions on Turkey, including a ban on imports of fruit and vegetables and the sales of tour packages.

The Russian leader also called for a unified anti-terror front under the framework of the United Nations.

Meanwhile on Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his rejection of Russian claims that he and his family are profiting from trading in oil with the Islamic State group.

Erdogan said he would resign if the allegations were proven true, and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the same if they were not.

"Neither Russia nor any other country can accuse Turkey of buying oil from ISIS. Turkey can't have such poor ethics it buys oil from terrorists. I would offer my resignation if they offered any proof to these accusations."Erdogan also claimed Turkey had evidence that a businessman from Syria and another from Russia were among the biggest buyers of IS oil.

With relations between Turkey and Russia at a low point, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has met with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Serbia.

Following the meeting, Cavusoglu says the situation remains tense.

The two reportedly held talks for half an hour on the sideline of a meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

UK Sends More Jets to Strike IS in SyriaExtra fighter jets have arrived at the British air base in Cyprus to join attacks against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Six Typhoon jets landed at the base, followed by an A400M transporter aircraft, and two Royal Air Force GR4 Tornadoes.

On Thursday, Tornado jets struck oil fields in eastern Syria that help finance the Islamic State group.

The strikes at the Omar oil field came just hours after Britain's Parliament authorized military action in Syria against the militant group.

Doctors Without Borders President Visits ChinaAnchor:

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

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

Reporter:

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 Eloba-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.

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 approved the murder conviction.

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 sentencing hearing.

Pistorius now faces a sentence of at least 15 years in prison.

WeatherBeijing will be sunny with a high of 6 degrees Celsius.

Overnight temperatures should drop down to minus 2.

Shanghai will be sunny with a high of 10 and a low of 4.

In Chongqing, it will have slight rain with during the daytime with a high of 12 and lows of 10.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Islamabad will be cloudy with a high of 21.

Kabul will be overcast with a high of 12.

Over to North America,New York will be cloudy with a high of 11 degrees.

Washington, sunny with a high of 11 degrees.

Honolulu, cloudy, 28.

Toronto will be cloudy with a high of 6 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires will see slight rain with a high of 30.

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

Headline newsFOCAC to Kick off TodayThe Forum on China-Africa Cooperation is set to start later today in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The two-day summit is to be co-chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Xi Jinping says China stands ready to work with Africa to tap the unique advantages of their partnership and boost bilateral cooperation for the benefit of both sides.

The summit is expected to adopt a declaration and action plan outlining measures aimed at consolidating China-Africa relations.

Meanwhile Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says China has prioritized key areas like finance and investment, peace and security, people-to-people exchanges, and regional integration to boost Africa's socioeconomic progress.

Female California Shooter Has a Pakistani PassportUS authorities say the woman who helped her husband kill 14 people at a social services center in Southern California had a Pakistani passport and came to the U.S. on a fiancee visa.

Police say Syed Farook, a U.S. citizen, traveled internationally and entered the U.S. with Tashfeen Malik in July 2014.

After a raid at the shooters' home, local police also found an arsenal of weaponary, and said the shooters might plan another attack.

The motive for the shooting is not yet known.

US indicts 16 more in football corruption probeU.S. authorities have named 16 new FIFA corruption defendants.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the individuals were mainly from the Western Hemisphere and the indictment deals in part with allegations of corruption in the award of broadcast rights for soccer.

Among the defendants, Alfredo Hawit of Honduras and Juan ?ngel Napout of Paraguay were arrested in a pre-dawn raid by Swiss police at a hotel in Zurich near the headquarters of FIFA.

FIFA said it will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation.

FIFA's executive committee has approved a package of reforms,including taking many decision-making powers away from the executive panel, which is to be renamed the FIFA Council and is to include more members.

UK Sends More Jets to Strike IS in SyriaExtra fighter jets have arrived at the British air base in Cyprus to join attacks against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Six Typhoon jets landed at the base, followed by an A400M transporter aircraft, and two Royal Air Force GR4 Tornadoes.

On Thursday, Tornado jets struck oil fields in eastern Syria that help finance the Islamic State group.

The strikes at the Omar oil field came just hours after Britain's Parliament authorized military action in Syria against the militant group.

Biz ReportsAnchorTurning to business news, starting with a quick look at the closing numbers across North America and Europe.

U.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday, as investors assessed the European Central Bank's decision to the cut deposit interest rate, and U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks on the economy.

Yellen gave an upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy, signaling that an interest rate hike is likely in December.

Meanwhile, the U.S. non-manufacturing index registered 55.9 percent in November, 3.2 points lower than the reading in October.

At the closing bell,The Dow Jones and S&P 500 each fell 1.4 percent.

The Nasdaq lost 1.7 percent.

In Europe, shares closed lower due to the European Central Bank's decision to cut the deposit interest rate.

At the closing bell,The UK's FTSE 100 shed 2.3 percent.

Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 each lost 3.6 percent.

IMF supports ECB's new stimulus programThe International Monetary Fund has supported the European Central Bank's move to cut a key interest rate and extend its asset purchases.

On Thursday, the ECB decided to lower the interest rate of deposit facility by 10 basis points to minus 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will remain unchanged.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice says ECB should remain willing to act until price stability is achieved.

"The ECB's decisions help address increased downside risks to the recovery. Today's actions and its strong commitment to adjust the program if needed will help meet the price stability objective. The ECB should continue to strongly signal its willingness to act and use all the instruments available until its price stability mandate is met."At the same time, the central bank is expected to extend the asset purchase program until the end of March 2017 from September 2016.

Gerry Rice says the program has supported confidence, financial conditions, and inflation expectations.

In addition, the ECB is set to include euro-denominated marketable debt instruments in the public sector purchase program in the list of assets.

AIIB to open in mid-JanuaryThe Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is set to open in mid-January next year.

AIIB will be eligible to open after at least ten countries' legislatures pass the bank's operational framework and the shares held by those nations represent no less than half of the total.

So far, 12 countries' legislatures have passed the framework, but their shares are below 50 percent of the total.

Larger shareholders, India and Russia, are expected to finish their legislative procedures in mid-December.

China's top legislature ratified the AIIB operational framework in November.

With authorized capital of 100 billion U.S. dollars, the multilateral development institution is tasked with financing infrastructure construction across Asia.

Yuan-denominated payment between China and Japan doubles: SWIFTThe Chinese yuan has been increasingly used in cross-border payments between China and Japan.

A monthly report from the international inter-bank organization SWIFT shows the yuan's share in all payments between the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, and Japan doubled from a year ago to 7 percent for the month of October.

The Japanese yen remains the most favorable choice in payments between China and Japan.

Lufax 2016 IPO & iKang HealthcareLet's check out some of the main events taking place on the corporate front in China this week.

====Story 1====China's peer-to-peer lending platform operator Lufax is attracting state-owned investors for its latest 1-billion-US-dollar funding round, as the company is eyeing a 2016 IPO in Hong Kong.

Lufax aims to get a valuation of 15 to 20 billion dollars from the round, meaning it would be selling around 5 to 7 percent of itself if it gets the terms it wants.

Lufax hopes to complete the funding round early next year.

For more on this topic, we are joined on the line by Doug Young, Associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief with Reuters.

Talking Points:

Q1: What are the reasons that Lufax looks for "state-owned" investors for its funding round? Why not "private investors"?

Q2: What are the advantages to Lufax or the entire P2P industry, if Lufax lists on the Hong Kong stock exchange?

====Story 2====The Board of iKang Healthcare Group has adopted a rights agreement and authorized the issuance of one right for each outstanding Class A Common Share and Class C Common Share.

The decision came after the Board of iKang received a non-binding proposal letter earlier from several investors, saying the Jiangsu Sanyou Buyer Group would acquire all of the outstanding Class A common shares, Class C common shares and American depositary shares of iKang.

The list of investors backing the bid also contains some big names, including Cathay Capital Private Equity, and funds related to Sequoia Capital and financial services giant Ping An.

iKang Healthcare is China's largest private preventive healthcare services provider.

Talking Points:

Q1: Reports say iKang adopting the rights agreement aims to prevent Jiangsu Sanyou from acquiring the shares. What is happening with this deal?

Q2: Some say if the transaction succeeds, China's health exam market will be monopolized by the private healthcare services provider. Do you agree with the opinion?

Back Anchor:

That was Doug Young, associate professor at Fudan University and former China company news chief at Reuters.

PepsiCo launches 'PepsiCo Nutrition InAction' program in ChinaPepsiCo Greater China Region has officially launched the "PepsiCo Nutrition In Action" program here in China, joining with the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and Chinese Nutrition Society.

Pepsi will donate funds and materials totaling 1 million yuan, or 150-thousand US dollars, to CFPA to help provide nutritious meals to school children in poor areas of Yunnan Province.

Pepsi has supported public welfare projects in China over the past 30 years.

As of November, public welfare donations made by the PepsiCo Foundation have exceeded 137 million yuan.

SportsCBA updateStarting with the CBA news:

Today will see a lot games going on at 5pm Beijing time:

The Zhejiang Chouzhou will face-off against the Shandong LionsThe Guangdong Foshan "Dralions" will play Liaoning .

Beijing Shougang is up against Xinjiang Guanghui.

Jiangsu Nangang will clash against Jilin Northeast.

Guangdong Southern will play Jiangsu Tong Xi.

It will be Bayi Fubang playing Zhejiang Guangsha.

Qingdao will face Fujian.

Shenzen Yikan will play the Sichuan "Blue Whales"and finally,It will be the Shanghai Dongfang Sharks playing the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave DragonsAnd a quick update on standings, currently for the 2015-2016 regular season,It's Xinjiang Guanghui on top with 11-1Then Zhejiang Guangsha in second, rocking a 10-2In third Guangdong Southern coming in at 10-2Snooker's Liang Wenbo reaches UK Quarter FinalsIn some snooker action:

China's Liang Wenbo beat Englishman Tom Ford 6-5 to reach the quarter finals of the Snooker UK Championship in England on Thursday.

Liang's next match will be an all China showdown as his competitor will be Marco Fu from Hong Kong.

The 28th-seed Liang has reach the final 8 before in England in 2009.

Korea's Charlie Wi leads Golf's Ho Tram OpenIn golf:

Korea's Charlie Wi established a course record of nine-under-par 62 for the first round lead at the inaugural Ho Tram Open on Thursday.

The tournament is being held at the Bluffs Ho Tram Strip golf course in Vietnam.

It is one of the more lucrative tournaments in Asia as the winner will receive 1.5 million USD.

Currently seven time Asia tour winner Charlie Wi is leading after the first round.

After the days holes, Wi spoke about his experience on the green.

"When I showed up here on Tuesday and played the first few holes, I thought 'Wow, this is a tough golf course.' The good thing about this course is the wind is always constant so I think once a player plays a couple times around the golf course, he will get a feel of the course. The wind didn't really pick up like how it can here (in the afternoon) so I took advantage of the situation."Behind Wi on the scoreboard are Thai players Donthai Boonma and Thaworn Wiratchant both with 64Sharing fourth is Chinese player Lin Wen-tang, America's David Lipsky and Malaysian Nicholas Fung, all sitting at 65.

Round 2 of Vietnam's richest sporting event will begin later on today.

Italy confronts doping in Track and Field AthleticsAnd in Olympic news outta Italy:

The Italian Olympic Committee known as CONI has requested two-year doping bans on 26 of the countries track and field athletes.

Some of these athletes are slated to compete in Rio for the 2016 games.

On Coni's list are big names like Fabrizzio Donato, a triple jump bronze medalist from the London games, and Andrew Howe, a long jump silver medalist at the 2007 world championships.

All 26 people on CONI's list are accused of evading doping tests.

President of the Italian Federation for Track and Field, Alfio Giomi, stated that recently, he has become more aware of doping problems in his country.

"I suddenly discover Italian athletics overwhelmed by doping! None of the Italian athletics representatives was found positive (of doping), what are we talking about? I have been president since 2012, and I found some positive cases (of doping) in master running category athletes. I believe that all that just hit Italian athletics is absolutely out of place, and unacceptable on my side."The athletes on CONI's list are expected to go on trial sometime next year.

Five of them are qualifiers for the Rio 2016 games.

Heyneke Meyer to leave SpringboksIn rugby:

South Africa's Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer will not be renewing his contract after it expires on December 31st, according to the South African Rugby Union on Thursday.

Originally Meyer had planned to stay on the team after their 3rd place success in the recent Rugby world cup, but changed his mind after receiving harsh criticism on his tactics after returning home.

Reports have claimed that the South African Rugby Union is in talks to have former Stormers coach Allister Coetzee, come to their team.

The boks have some time to decide as they will not be seeing action until June when they face off against Ireland.

Meyer leaves the team with 34 victories and 2 draws in 50 matches.

During his tenure, the Springboks recorded a 66.7 percent win record in tests, second only to New Zealand at that time.

Entertainment"Go Lala Go 2" Opens to AudienceChinese romantic comedy-drama film "Go Lala Go 2"is being released today.

Directed by Andrew Chien and starring Ariel Lin, Vic Zhou and Chen Bolin, the film tells a story about the adventures of a young Chinese career woman.

(lala trailer)Directed by and starring Xu Jinglei, the first Go Lala Go film became a surprise hit upon its release in 2010. The movie has been credited with helping kick off the current wave of Chinese romantic dramedies about the country's new generation of upwardly mobile young urbanites.

The series is based on a best-selling novel by Chinese writer Li Ke.

Co-produced by Fox International Channels, "Go Lala Go 2" is being simultaneously released in China, Singapore, North America, Australia and New Zealand today, followed by Hong Kong and Macau on December 10 and Taiwan on December 11.

"Batman vs Superman" Released A New TrailerA full-length trailer for the highly-anticipated film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" has dropped, and it's packed with action.

Viewers in the US were treated to the epic clip during Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show following an appearance by Ben Affleck, who plays Batman.

In the trailer, the audience catches a glimpse of the film's bad guy – Doomsday. The trailer also confirms the involvement of Wonder Woman.

The three-minute clip is action-packed and begins with Clark Kent meeting Bruce Wayne at a party, where they come face-to-face with Lex Luthor.

Affleck recently revealed he has been feeling the "pressure" of his role as The Dark Knight and admits it would be "extremely disappointing" for him if people don't like his performance.

"Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is scheduled for worldwide release in March 2016.

"Nashville" Stars Hayden Pannettiere Does Well in Treatment for DepressionStars of the ABC drama "Nashville" say costar Hayden Panettiere is doing well as she takes time off the show to treat her postpartum depression.

Jonathan Jackson says the entire cast and crew wants her to take as much time off as she needs.

"Yeah, as far as I know, she's doing great. I am very excited for her to get back to work when the time is right. But she's a great friend and I just know that we're grateful that she took the time that she needed. And I think that was a really good example for a lot of people that she did that. Whenever the time is right, whenever she's ready to come back, we're excited."The stars showed their support for Panettiere, who announced in October that she was voluntarily seeking professional help for postpartum depression. She gave birth to her daughter in December of last year.

Actress Clare Bowen also says she is proud of Panettiere for openly addressing her postpartum depression.

"Yeah, we love her. You gotta do what you gotta do. It wouldn't be right for her not to go and tackle what she's been tackling. I'm really proud of her for addressing it. I love her and I just want her to be OK. She's doing really well, I hear."The cast was honored for their international impact at the CMT Artists of the Year show, which aired lived on CMT on Wednesday night.

Girls' Generation – TTS Launched New Christmas Album "Dear Santa"South Korean group TTS launched a new Christmas album at midnight local time.

The popular kpop group released the holiday song "Dear Santa" both in Korean and English, and also released the music video of "Dear Santa" with a special Christmas performance.

The video mirrors the song's production, as the visual opens with the girls looking melancholy (but gorgeous) in red gowns before being transported to a winter wonderland. They window-shop with puppies, ride in sleighs and dance around in their pajamas.

The video was released through TTS's official homepage and YouTube channel.

The album will feature six tracks that sing the joy of the holiday season. The tracks are "Dear Santa" in two versions, "I Like The Way," "Winter Story," "Merry Christmas" and "First Snow." There will be a variety of genres in the new album, including electronic, acoustic and pop.

"Pretty Little Liars" Season 6B Released New Promo PosterAmerican teen drama "Pretty Little Liars" has released its official promo poster for the second half of season 6.

In the image, Aria (Lucy Hale), Hanna (Ashley Benson), Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Emily (Shay Mitchell) and Ali (Sasha Pieterse) look more mature as the show picks up five years after the events in the summer finale.

Despite their new looks, one thing that doesn't change is that the girls are still keeping dirty secrets.

The poster, which first made its way out via EW, appears to allude to the girls' dark pasts.

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

Recapping our top stories this morning...

The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, co-chaired by the Chinese President, starts today in Johannesburg...

On behalf of the rest of the Beijing Hour team, 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.