And I'm Bob Jones - Welcome to the Beijing Hour, live from the Chinese capital. Coming up on the program this morning...

A final draft of a climate change agreement is set to be put to negotiators later on this Saturday in Paris.

The young man convicted of murdering his college roommate by poisoning has been put to death.

Turkey's President standing firm, saying he will not authorize the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Iraq.

We have our weekly roundup of the week's business news.

In Sports.... the semi-finals of the BWF Super Series Finals in Dubai set to take place later on this Saturday.

In Entertainment.... "Opie" gets a 2nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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 NewsWorld Leaders Optimistic Despite Climate Change Agreement's One Day DelayAnchorThe final version of the proposed deal to combat climate change is going to be presented later on this Saturday to negotiators taking part in the UN Climate Change talks in Paris, with hopes running high that a final agreement may well be in sight.

CRI's Niu Honglin has more.

ReporterThe Paris climate negotiations are now expected to end on Saturday, one day after the scheduled closing date. The announcement was made by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

"It is progressing but we have a lot of work because it is 5:45 am Friday so today the text is going to be worked on, I am going to continue with consultations. And therefore I will present the text not on Friday evening, as I had thought, but Saturday morning, early in the morning and we will be able to make the necessary decisions by midday. "On Thursday, co-host of the conference, Fabius admitted that the latest draft of the agreement still left several issues unresolved, including the varying degrees of contributions to be made by wealthy and developing nations as part of the agreement.

Despite the delay, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said even with the disagreements that still existed, he himself was "convinced and confident" that they would reach an "ambitious, strong accord.""There are still several outstanding issues, like differentiation of ambitions, and climate financings etc, but during many years of negotiations they have identified all the issues, very good solutions have been already presented. This morning we have a much cleaner, (more) streamlined text, and this is a good basis of further negotiations. Many brackets have been dropped and there are few brackets remaining."He also appealed for negotiators to make their decision based on global vision.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he's hopeful that negotiators can finalize a landmark climate accord on Saturday and has been working behind the scenes to reach compromises on contentious issues.

"There's a lot of progress, progress made last night, a long night. But, still a couple of very difficult issues that we're working on, and over the course of today, we'll have some meetings with various groups to work those through. I'm hopeful. I think there's a way to go forward if there's reasonableness. And over the course of the next hours, this should take shape and its possible that it could come to a conclusion some time tomorrow."On Friday night, a determined message was delivered by the lighting up of Paris' iconic Eiffel Tower, encouraging negotiators to "decarbonize", keep global warming below "1.5 degrees" and stressing "no plan B".

For CRI, I'm Niu Honglin.

Scientists on Shortcomings of Draft AgreementA group of European scientists are warning of shortcomings in the new climate change draft released in Paris.

The scientists, from different European universities, say a number of key issues are not properly addressed in the draft.

They're warning it could limit the proposed legislation from achieving its goal of keeping global temperatures in-check.

Kevin Anderson with the University of Manchester says the current text is weaker than the draft issued in Copenhagen in 2009.

"It is not consistent with science, which the Copenhagen accord had directly written into it. In addition, the Copenhagen agreement also included aviation and shipping, two sectors that collectively, combined are similar to the emissions from the UK and Germany. These are now exempt from the current text and they are growing very rapidly indeed."Steffen Kallbekken is with the Centre for International Climate and Environment Research at the University of Oslo in Norway.

"Those options in the previous draft text which were consistent with science and would set a clear guideline, a clear signal on where to go to achieve this, specifically mentioning 40-70 percent or 70-95 percent emission cuts by 2050, are out of the current draft."The 2009 climate change talks in Copenhagen ultimately failed, as the countries involved could not agree on issues connected to both time frames and financing.

China Urges all parties to narrow differences for the final climate dealChina has urged all parties at the Paris climate change conference to show flexibility and narrow the differences to reach a final deal.

The Foreign Ministry says while it applauds the text to be released, key issues still needed to be hammered out.

In response to criticism about China not getting involved in the so-called Green Fund, the Foreign Ministry's Hua Chunying says China is taking its own steps to help the developing world deal with climate change.

"China announced the establishment of the "China South-South Climate Cooperation Fund" with 20 billion yuan in September in a bid to help other developing countries fight climate change and to enhance their ability to get financed from the GCF. The China-led fund will work together with the GCF and other institutions to help developing countries combat climate change."Its being reported a "high ambition coalition" representing more than 100 countries has been formed, aiming to push for a legally-binding deal on climate change, which reportedly does not include China or India.

When asked about the absence of China and India in the coalition, Hua Chunying says the Chinese side remains engaged in the overall discussions.

"China has been a staunch supporter for the Paris talks in its attempt to reach an ambitious, balanced, comprehensive, and pragmatic agreement. In addition, China has participated in relevant negotiations actively and constructively, and has kept close communication with all parties concerned."The spokeswoman urged all countries to seek common ground, saying "everyone at the Paris talks was an ambitious partner, and there was no excluding anyone".

Heavy Snow in Xinjiang Interrupts Traffic and SchoolsHeavy snow has disrupted traffic and shut down schools in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

As of Friday noon, about four dozen flights to or from its capital Urumqi had been canceled, rerouted or delayed.

Junior middle and primary schools in the city have suspended classes.

About 10,000 clearers and 1,500 snow removal machines are working on roads in the area.

Wang Jianwen, a traffic police officer in Aksu City, has been on duty at major intersections and steep slopes to ensure road safety.

"To overcome the adverse impact of the bad weather on road safety, we at the traffic police department have reinforced our manpower at intersections and crossroads to direct the traffic flow. We hope citizens will reduce the use of motor cars at rush hours."This is the first snow Aksu has seen this year. Temperatures have plummeted to minus 5 degrees Celsius.

The first snow started falling on Wednesday, started decreasing in Xinjiang on Friday, and is expected to end this weekend.

Fosun Group says chairman Guo assisting legal investigationShanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group has issued a statement saying its company chairman Guo Guangchang is assisting a legal investigation.

The statement followed news reports that Guo had "disappeared". Guo was last seen on Thursday amid suggestions that he was involved in a probe being carried out by the authorities.

The Fosun statement added that Guo was still participating in major decisions of the company "in proper ways", and that the event would not have any significant negative effect on the group.

Shares related to Fosun were suspended from trading on Friday following the rumors.

The company has also said that its shares in the A-share market would resume trading on Monday.

Fosun is one of China's biggest private conglomerates.

It has interests in pharmaceuticals, real estate, private equity, steel and mining.

Alibaba announces acquisition of HK's SCMP Group media assetsChina's e-commerce giant Alibaba has agreed to acquire the South China Morning Post, a major English newspaper in Hong Kong.

At the same time, Alibaba is also going to buy the broadsheet's affiliated publications including the Sunday Morning Post, SCMP.com with its mobile apps, and two Chinese websites Nanzao.com and Nanzaozhinan.com.

The deal also includes the acquisition of the magazine, recruitment, outdoor media, events and conferences, education and digital media businesses of the SCMP Group.

Financial terms of the deal have not been revealed.

The SCMP, founded by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham in 1903, was first listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1971.

It was privatized by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation in 1987.

It was previously owned by Kerry Media.

The purchase of the SCMP is the first acquisition of overseas media assets for Alibaba.

Convict in College Roommate Poisoning Case ExecutedAnchor:

Lin Senhao, the suspect in a high-profile poisoning case at a prestigious Chinese university, has been executed.

CRI's Luo Wen with more.

Reporter:

The Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, executed Lin Senhao on Friday, acting on an order signed by the country's supreme court.

"The Supreme People's Court approves the 31st Criminal Verdict in 2014 by the Higher People's Court, and upholds the first instance of death penalty and deprival of political rights for life to Lin Senhao on accusation of intentional homicide."In a statement released on the same day, the Supreme People's Court accused Lin of deliberately taking concealed means to kill the victim over a grudge.

The executed Lin Senhao was a postgraduate at the Medical School of Fudan University when he tried to poison his roommate Huang Yang in 2013.

Investigations found he took N-Nitrosodimethylamine from the Fudan-affiliated Zhongshan Hospital on March 31, 2013 and poured the lethal chemical into the water dispenser in their dormitory room later that day.

His roommate, Huang Yang, drank from the dispenser on April 1 and died two weeks later of acute liver failure due to N-Nitrosodimethylamine poisoning followed by multiple organ failures.

But on the other hand, Lin did not confess until April 12, when the police interrogated him after confirming suspicions.

In an interview with China Central Television before the penalty was approved, Lin said he missed opportunities to prevent things from getting worse.

"I dared not to tell the truth when Huang was hospitalized, because his condition was serious beyond my expectation."His trial also saw twists and turns.

He was originally sentenced to death by the Shanghai No.2 Intermediate People's Court in February last year for intentional homicide.

But he appealed, insisting that the poisoning was intended to be an "April fool's joke".

The second trial focused on his intention behind contaminating the water and whether the poison was N-Nitrosodimethylamine.

The Shanghai Higher People's Court rejected the appeal and upheld the death sentence after a second trial on Jan 8 this year and then, submitted the sentence to the SPC for review.

Lin and his relatives later filed requests for verification and also for the change of defense attorneys.

A new autopsy and pathological examinations were thus conducted, which however confirmed the amount of poison was fatal enough and that Huang Yang did die from poisoning rather than complications caused by other diseases.

Lawyer Yue Shenshan called it a just and fair verdict.

"During the trials, both sides invited forensic experts in the debate over what led to the death of the victim. Both sides made full use of their legal rights. All of these ensure the final verdict just and fair."During the interview with CCTV, Lin also made an apology to the parents of Huang Yang.

"If the death penalty is approved, it means a redemption to me. It will be good, because Huang's parents can leave the hatred behind."Before the execution, he had met with his family members with the court's permission.

For CRI, this is Luo Wen.

China to Speed up Dealing with "Zombie SOEs"The Chinese government has said it will make more effort to speed up dealing with the so-called "zombie companies."Zhang Xiwu, with the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said "zombie companies" are facing a dead end.

"My understanding of 'zombie companies' is a kind of enterprises which can't develop on their own and have to rely on non-market factors. Those enterprises have already stopped production or have been running at half capacity with continuous deficits while operating with government subsidies or renewed loans."Zhang said such zombie enterprises will be dealt with in various ways.

"We will stick to market-oriented reforms and conduct the work according to law. We will take measures to promote mergers and acquisitions through deeper reform, personnel lay-offs for higher efficiency, assets verification, property rights transfer, and bankruptcy."China has about 150,000 State Owned Enterprises, which hold over 100 trillion yuan in assets and employ more than 30 million people.

The Chinese government has vowed to turn SOEs into fully independent market entities greater ability to avoid risks by 2020.

China Delivers Warships to BangladeshChina has delivered two advanced frigates to the Bangladeshi navy.

Zhu Xuejun, from the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, says the vessels have comprehensive combat capacity and excellent maneuverability and are able to sail at a max speed of 25.5 knots on the high seas.

Zhu was keen to highlight in particular the anti-air missile systems installed on this type of ship.

"This corvette is equipped with a ship-to-air missile weapons system which can coordinate with the search radar and tracking radar to conduct joint combat to multiple targets in air."The ships are based on China's most advanced frigate type 056, and are expected to become a key part of the Bangladeshi naval forces.

Fanuc Hasan, Brigadier of the Bangladesh navy, said the performance of the ships was impressive.

"I'm very much satisfied with the design and construction of the ship. We have been very much impressed with the design of the ship down by the CSIC Shanghai, and very much happy with the quality of the construction. And we also see the performance of the ships at sea. And we were really impressed to see the performance."Bangladesh is a main buyer of China-made weapons.

The deal for two warships was signed in 2013.

According to the agreement, China will also help with the building of the same type of vessels in Bangladesh.

U.S. returns ancient cultural artifacts, dinosaur fossil to ChinaAnchor:

22 Chinese artifacts and one fossil forfeited in the United States have been returned to the Chinese government. They were confiscated by customs officials during investigations into illegally trafficked archeological items.

For more details, here is our Washington correspondent He Fei.

Reporter:

The 22 artifacts include 17 jade disks and ornaments, 4 pieces of bronze ware, and a pottery figurine.

Some of the items date back as far as 1600 BCE.

However, the fossil, featuring a microraptor embedded in a rock, is considered to be the most valuable one.

Zhang Zhijun, the Deputy Chief of the Department of Stratigraphy and Paleontology for the Geological Museum of China, explains.

"The repatriated fossil is a microraptor fossil, a kind of dinosaurs with feathers, and it originated in Liaoning Province. It is approximately 160 million years old. The finding and returning of the fossil is a great example of joint law enforcement between China and the US."According to Zhang, the microraptor fossil will be exhibited at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for about 6 months before being sent back to the Geological Museum of China.

In accordance with a bilateral agreement between the United States and China signed in 2009, both countries work together closely to prevent the illicit trafficking of archaeological objects.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United States in September this year, the two sides reached agreements on returning forfeited Chinese artifacts.

Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai addressed the repatriation ceremony.

"Their discovery is the result of seamless coordination among so many people from various agencies of China and the United States. It is indeed another testament to the width and depth of China-U.S. Relations. In 2009, our two countries signed the MOU on import restrictions of archaeological materials. By translating this agreement into reality today, we are not only enhancing our shared values in cherishing cultural heritage, but also raising public awareness of combating illicit trade in archeological objects."The US State Department's Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Evan Ryan, also participated in the event.

She spoke more on her government's efforts to recover illicitly trafficked items.

"We value our partnership. We do this because we respect China's history. We respect China's traditions and their culture. We also do it because we are committed to preserving and protecting our shared cultural heritage for ourselves and for future generations."Since the two countries signed the MOU in 2009, cultural institutions from the two countries have jointly held 30 cultural relics exhibitions in the US.

According to Gu Yucai, China's Deputy Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the administration is planning to hold exhibitions in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. in 2017.

Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Pittsburg are all on the list to deepen relationships with Chinese universities and institutions, including Peking University, in many ancient culture research programs.

For CRI, I'm He Fei in Washington.

Putin orders to act in an "extremely tough way" in Syria to protect Russian forcesRussian President Vladimir Putin has vowed to further modernize Russia's military, and has warned of the immediate destruction of any forces threatening Russian troops in Syria.

"Our servicemen in Syria first of all defend their country. Our actions there are not dictated by some unclear, abstract geopolitical interests. They are not dictated by the desire to carry out drills and to test new weapons, which is also important of course. But it is not the most important; the most important is to prevent the threat to the Russian Federation."President Putin added that Russian forces in Syria were interacting not only with the Syrian government troops but also with opposition groups, including the Free Syrian Army.

He emphasized the importance of stepping up cooperation with countries which, he said, were "truly interested in eliminating terrorists," including the U.S.-led coalition.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the influence of Islamic State militants was increasing in Syria, with about 70 percent of the country seized by militants, and this might spread to Central Asia and the Caucasus.

Russia has been launching air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups in Syria since September 30 at a request of the country's president Bashar al-Assad.

Russia has deployed its air forces at the Hmeimin airbase in Syria and also uses long-range aircraft based in Russia, as well as warships in the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas.

Erdogan has no plans to withdraw troops from IraqTurkish President Tayyip Erdogan has declared that he has no plans to withdraw Turkish troops from a camp close to the northern Iraqi town of Mosul, despite demands from Iraq that it should do so by the weekend.

"We will not withdraw our troops. We are determined to continue the training process but we will do that with mutual understanding. We haven't dispatched combat troops to the area to fight, but we sent reinforcements to protect our soldiers who are training Iraqi fighters."Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has lodged an official complaint with the UN Security Council over the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq, even though the Turkish side said agreement was reached in talks with Iraq to deepen security cooperation and "reorganize" military personnel at the Bashiqa camp.

Abadi stated that the presence of Turkish troops in Syria was a "blatant violation of the provisions and principles of the UN Charter and a violation to the sovereignty of the Iraqi state.""We have expressed our desire to cooperate against terrorism and welcomed the support of our friends in the areas of armament, training and intelligence, but we will never accept the violation of land and sovereignty. Our desire for cooperation does not mean we allow Turkish military forces in Iraq without our consent."Turkey has had troops stationed near Mosul since last year, but the arrival of additional troops last week sparked uproar in Baghdad, forcing Turkey to halt the new deployment.

Abe urges Indian business leaders to invest in JapanThe Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has urged Indian business leaders to invest in his country, emphasizing that the economy was now picking up.

Abe made the remarks on Friday after arriving in India at the start of a three-day visit.

He said his polices were increasing corporate profitability while decreasing unemployment.

"Since taking office three years ago, we have been making efforts to revive the Japanese economy. The GDP has increased to twenty eight trillion yen and corporate profitability is the best so far. Employment is at lowest it's been for the last twenty years. A Wage hike, this year, has been the highest in the seventeen years."The Japanese premier invited Indian industrialists to see the progress for themselves and to invest in Japan.

Abe's administration is encouraging companies to invest more of their record profits to help put Japan's economy on a sustained path to recovery.

In addition to closer economic ties, Japan and India are also likely to finalize an agreement on protection of military information, laying the groundwork for Japanese arms sales to India, including seaplanes.

New Zealand Has Chosen Design for New National FlagIt appears black is going to trump red when it comes to the potential option for a new flag of New Zealand.

With only the write-in ballots to count, it appears the Silver Fern, which is the black, white and blue design, has won in the fourth round of voting, with 50.53-percent of the vote.

The next most preferred design, which is the same thing, only with red in the upper-left corner instead of black, polled at 49.47-percent.

New Zealand political observer Grant Duncan says the final results of the vote should be clear come Tuesday,.

The pattern also retains the four red stars representing the Southern Cross, a star constellation only visible in the Southern Hemisphere.

John Key's current administration has been lobbying hard to have the flag of New Zealand changed, as the current one, created over 100-years ago, closely resembles that of neighboring Australia.

Voters in New Zealand will be asked to choose between the original and the new design option during a national referendum next year.

WeatherBeijing is cloudy today with a high of 5 degrees Celsius and a low of minus 3.

Shanghai, also cloudy with a high of 11 and a low of 7 degrees Celsius.

Chongqing, expects slight rain with a high of 14 and a low of 12.

Lhasa, cloudy with a high of 13 and a low of minus 5 degrees Celsius.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Islamabad, sunny, 17.

Kabul, sunny, 3.

Over in North America,New York will be cloudy with a high of 18 degrees Celsius.

Washington DC, also cloudy, 23.

Honolulu, cloudy , 28.

Toronto, wet, with a high of 8.

In South America,Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 37.

And Rio de Janeiro will be wet with a high of 29 degrees Celsius.

Headline newsParis Conference ExtendedRepresentatives from close to 200 countries are still trying to reach an agreement to curb global warming in Paris by a deadline set for later today.

The French Foreign Minister and co-host of the UN conference Laurent Fabius has said there had never been a better time to get an ambitious, global climate deal.

Efforts to craft a global accord to combat climate change stumbled on Friday with several issues unresolved, including the varying degrees of contributions by wealthy and developing nations to the agreement.

Fabius then announced the talks would be extended to end on Saturday, one day after its scheduled closing date.

He called on the representatives in Paris to take on their "responsibilities" and move forward in a "spirit of compromise."DuPont, Dow to merge in 130 bln USD dealU.S. chemical giants DuPont and Dow Chemical are merging in a deal worth an estimated 130-billion U.S. dollars.

The combined company, to be called DowDuPont, is also proposing it split into 3 independent, publicly-traded companies after the merger.

DuPont's CEO will take over as the head of the newly-merged company, while Dow's CEO will be "executive chair."The companies say their combined operations will save them around 3-billion US dollars in operational costs.

By merging, the two companies will temporarily create the world's 2nd largest chemicals firm, behind BASF.

Once split, DowDuPont become 3 different firms focused on agriculture, material sciences and specialty products.

Cuba, U.S. agree to resume direct mail serviceCuba and the U.S. have agreed to resume direct mail services between the two countries, after an gap of more than 50 years.

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the decision was taken during a recent round of talks in the U.S.

Cuba and the United States announced the process of normalization of relations between the two countries in December last year. Diplomatic relations were severed in 1961 and an economic embargo imposed.

During the meeting, the Cuban delegation presented examples of how the blockade had affected the island, including on the operations of Grupo Empresarial Correos de Cuba, the country's mail companyThe ministry also said a pilot plan for the transportation of mail would be fleshed out over the next few weeks, with a permanent re-starting of the service set to begin soon.

Kidnapped son of ex-Libyan leader handed to Lebanese security forcesIt's reported the son of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been handed over to the Lebanese security forces, Friday.

Hannibal Gaddafi had reportedly been kidnapped by an armed group in the Bekaa region.

Lebanon's New TV has aired a video showing Hanibaal Gadaffi, in which he said he was in good health.

He also said he had been kidnapped by people "loyal to the cause of Imam Moussa al-Sadr," the Shiite spiritual leader and founder of Lebanon's AMAL Movement who disappeared during a trip to Libya in 1978.

Hannibal is among a group of family members including Gaddafi's wife, son Mohammed and daughter Aisha who escaped to neighboring Algeria after the fall of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

Weekly Biz RoundupAnchor:

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

This week sees the decision of a major shift of China's stock market to a registration-based IPO system.

We'll also look at China's automobile industry rebounding after the government's stimulus, and how the Chinese are spending more on healthy food and sports equipment.

All of that and more with CRI's Victor Ning.

Reporter:

China is introducing a registration-based system for initial public offerings.

China Securities Regulatory Commission will roll out details and solicit public opinions within two years.

The regulator plans to shift IPO approval powers to the two main bourses, the Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen component indexes.

Cao Can, CRI's financial commentator, said that the new IPO system will emphasize information disclosure rather than corporate profitability and the regulator will focus on supervision.

"In the past, many companies in order to go through the IPO approval process paddle their information and exaggerate many aspects of their operation. Under the new system, the accuracy of the information will be emphasized and information disclosure brings supreme over profitability. So the companies will be more cautious to manipulate their earnings."Under the new system, the market will play a bigger role in determining share pricesThe draft plan still needs to be authorized by the country's legislature, as it involves adjustment of the current securities law.

More than 600 companies here in China had sought regulatory approval for their IPOs as of this Tuesday.

+++++++++China's consumer inflation picked up last month, while factories continued to stagnate due to continued weak market demand.

The National Bureau of Statistics posted the consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, at 1.5 percent year on year last month, up 0.2 percentage points from October.

Pan Jiancheng, a deputy director at the NBS, attributed the rise mainly to rising food prices.

"The changes of CPI figures of this year are relatively stable. The price of pork has a major influence on CPI and has declined in recent months after price rises earlier this year."The producer price index, a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate, dropped 5.9 percent year on year, falling for the 45th straight month.

The reading was unchanged from the rate seen in the last three months.

Price drops in the non-ferrous metal smelting and oil processing industry are said to have caused the decline in manufacturing.

+++++++++China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, fell 0.03 percent last month to 3.44 trillion U.S. dollars, the lowest level since February 2013 and the third-largest monthly drop on record.

Gao Shang, senior analyst of Guantong Futures, explained the reasons.

"The root cause is that there are double pressures including both expectations of weaker RMB and lower returns on RMB assets. Both these reasons result in the pressure of capital outflow. At the same time, the U.S. dollar is really strong. So the valuation of non-dollar currencies in foreign exchange reserves dictated the result that the part of non-dollar currencies had a shrinking value because of it."China's forex regulator also said that recent declines on the country's foreign exchange reserves are due to the financing of a large number of economic projects in Eurasia.

Wang Yungui, a head at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, made the remarks at a press conference held by the regulator in Beijing on Thursday.

Wang said that modest falls in foreign exchange reserves are something that can be tolerated.

He also added that there is no basis for a sharp drop of the Chinese currency given that the country's international balance of payment position remains sound.

++++++++China and South Korea are set to implement the new bilateral free trade agreement on December 20.

Under the deal, Beijing and Seoul will eliminate tariffs on more than 90 percent of trade goods within 20 years.

South Korea expects the FTA with China to create over 50 thousand jobs and enhance consumer benefits by 15 billion U.S. dollars.

At the same time, China and Australia have also announced that their FTA will come into force on the same day.

The deal is expected to cut import tariffs on a wide range of products including agriculture and financial services which target the rising middle-class here in China.

++++++++The China Association of Automobile Manufactures said that sales of vehicles in China have posted their biggest growth in two years last month, up 20 percent, thanks to the government's tax cuts.

Vehicle sales grew 12 percent in October after a 2 percent increase in September.

Strong gains for two straight months confirm that the country's auto market, also the world's largest auto market, has rebounded amid risk of contracting.

At the same time, the association is forecasting electric car sales in China this year may surpass the US for the first time, making China the world's top market for electric vehicles.

The organization estimates electric cars sales in China will hit between 220-thousand to 250-thousand this year.

Figures for the U.S. market are expected to come in at around 180-thousand.

++++++++China's e-commerce giant Alibaba says that consumption behaviors in China have become healthier and smarter.

A report was drawn based on transactions made on Alibaba's online shopping platform Taobao.com over the past five years.

Xia Ji, marketing director of Taobao.com, said the study found five major consumption trends in China: healthy, intelligent, personalized, traditional, and young.

"Consumers eat healthier, such as non-genetically modified food and organic food. The consumption of these products has seen fast increases. The other is exercise. Running at night has been popular in China in recent two years, which has boosted the consumption of running equipment."The report also revealed that young people who were born in the 1980s and 90s have been the main force for online shopping in China.

Most of people under the age of 25 use mobile phones to shop online, especially in China's second- and third-tier cities.

Spending on traditional festivals has also surprisingly overtaken Western festivals, bolstered by young consumers.

++++++++China's cabinet has confirmed the merger of China Ocean Shipping Group and China Shipping Group.

Earlier reports said that the new company, called China Cosco Shipping Group, will be headquartered in Shanghai.

The two shipping giants are looking to merge their tanker, dry bulk and port operations.

The merger could be worth upward of 20 billion U.S. dollars, marking it the world's fourth largest container operator.

The two companies have not revealed details of the merger.

The deal is part of ongoing government efforts to consolidate the operations of major State-owned undertakings so that they can fully leverage their advantages and resources in the global arena.

Last year saw the merging of two locomotive makers into China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation.

++++++++German carmaker Volkswagen said the installation of software in diesel vehicles designed to cheat U.S. emissions standards first happened all the way back in 2005.

The company also announced that only about 36 thousand of its vehicles will be affected, far fewer than previously suspected.

This means Volkswagen will no longer face a loss of 2 billion euros.

Volkswagen's chairman says the company will start road testing all its vehicles, with the results to be verified by a third party, to avoid a repeat of the scandal.

"Our most important task and our biggest challenge now are to win back that trust of the public. At this point, we must continue to act with credibility and determination, so we can learn rigorously with the mistakes of the past and make sure something like this never happens again."Hans Dieter Poetsch also indicates that the investigation into the German car maker's emissions scandal won't spare top managers.

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

SportsChen Long into Semi-finals at BMF Super Series FinalsIn badminton action from the BMF Super Series Finals in Dubai,World number-1 Chen Long is into the semi-finals, downing Denmark's Jan Jorgensen in straight sets to go undefeated through the group stages.

"We've played many times against each other and we know each other very well. Of course he is a tough player. Although we don't speak each other's languages, we know each other very well on the court."Chen Long will be taking on Jorgensen's compatriot, Vicktor Axelson, in the semi-finals.

Jorgensen has also progressed into the final-four, and will be taking on Kento Momota of Japan.

---The top-ranked Women's Doubles duo of Luo Ying and Luo Yu will begin Saturday's action in Dubai later on today, as they head into the semi-finals against a duo from Japan.

--In Women's Singles,Wang Yihan is China's only hope, and will be facing Thailand's Ratchanok Inthanon in the semi-finals later on today.

The other match-up has world number-1 Carolina Marin taking on 21-year-old Nozomi Okuhara of Japan, who she lost her last match to in the round-robin.

"I tried to change my mentality, I tried to don't remember the match yesterday. Yeah, the match wasn't good. I did many, many mistakes, so she won the match."In men's doubles, Chai Biao and Hong Wei are pitted against a pair from Denmark in their semi-final.

And in the Mixed Doubles, Hong Kong's Lee Chun Hei and Chau Hoi Wah will be up against a pair from South Korea.

China scoops up four ITTF annual awardsThis year's International Table Tennis awards have been dolled out.

China's top players, Ma Long and Liu Shiwen, have been named Male and Female Player of the Year.

At the same time, Liu Guoliang has been named Coach of the Year, leading the Chinese national team to victory in all the major international ping-pong events this year.

CBA Recap, NBA PreviewIn basketball,The Guangsha Lions have earned their way into a tie for 1st place in the CBA, rolling over Tianjin 133-111 last night.

With the win, the Lions move to 14-2 on the season, good for a tie with Xinjiang, which was upset by Jiangsu Tongxi 113-104 last night.

The loss moves the Flying Tigers down to 14-2.

--Guangdong now sits alone in 2nd in the league, with Yi Jianlian throwing down 43 points and 8-rebounds to give the Southern Tigers a 114-111 victory over the Jiangsu Dragons.

Guangdong now has a 13-3 record.

--In other action,Johnathan Gibson had 41-points to help Qingdao upset Liaoning 113-110.

The loss drops Liaoning down to 11-5 on the season.

---The battle of Beijing has gone to the Ducks, with Stephon Marbury and Randolph Morris combining for 59-points in a 107-102 over Beijing Beikong.

The Ducks are now 9-7 on the season.

--It was Zhejiang Chouzhou over Shenzhen 123-106.

Jilin held off Shandong 108-100.

Shanghai went down to Sichuan 99-89.

------In NBA,The Golden State Warriors are looking to extend their incredible winning streak to 24-straight wins to open the NBA season, as they take on the Boston Celtics.

This is their first meeting this season.

In other action in the NBA later this morning,Jeremy Lin and the Charlotte Hornets are on the road in Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.

------Kobe Bryant and the L.A. Lakers are looking to end their 4-game losing skid as they take on the San Antonio Spurs.

------The Toronto Raptors are playing host to the Miwaukee Bucks.

------After suffering their back to back defeats, the Portland Trail Blazers are hoping to bounce back on the road in Phoenix.

Elsewhere,LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are in Orlando to take on the Magic.

-----The Utah Jazz are at home to Oklahoma City Thunder.

-----The Philadelphia 76ers are set to lose to the Detroit Pistons at home this morning.

-----The Miami Heat are on the road in Indiana.

-----The New Orleans Pelicans are up against the Washington Wizards.

And it's the Denver Nuggets taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Golf: Feng leads after third round of the Dubai Ladies MastersIn golf,China's Feng Shanshan heads into the final round of the Dubai Ladies Masters with a 5-stroke lead, carding another 67 on Friday to sit comfortably at minus-15 heading into this Saturday's final round.

Feng, who won this tournament last year, has a 5-stroke lead over a Thai golfer.

------Here in China,Park Sung-hyun from South Korea has a 2-stroke lead at minus-8 at this year's Hyundai China Ladies Open in Hainan.

Zhang Weiwei sits tied for 4th at minus-5.

-------On the men's side,Overnight leader Jamie Donaldson has continued to set the pace with a second round four-under-par 68 at the Thailand Golf Championship.

The Welshman followed up his opening round 63 with a 68 to take a two-shot advantage over Martin Kaymer of Germany.

Spain's Sergio Garcia shared the third place with Thailand's Chinnarat Phadungsil and England's Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Manchester City to Take on Swansea in EPLIn European football,Round 16 of the English Premier League is set to kick off tonight with 6 games on the schedule.

Third place Manchester City will be up against Swansea.

Man City coach Manuel Pellegrini.

"The important thing is to learn about our team to try and arrange different things that we are making some mistakes in some games. And of course, we are always going to play against difficult teams, it doesn't matter which position they are in the league."Swansea comes into the game without a manager after sacking Gary Monk following only one win in 11 league matches.

------------Elsewhere,Crystal Palace is at home against Southampton.

Eagles' manager Alan Pardew:

"Now we've got a different agenda. It'll be even-stevens I think against Southampton with possession so it'll be a different type of game but a game I hope we can win."In other action,Norwich City will host Everton.

Watford is the road to take on Sunderland.

West Ham United will be at home to Stoke City.

And it's 4th place Manchester United up against Bournemouth.

Hockey: Kings look for 6th straight winIn action from the National Hockey League this morning,The Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles Kings will be looking to make it 6-straight wins today as they take on the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

That's one of 7 games on the scheduled this morning,In other action,It's New Jersey at home to Detroit.

--Winnipeg is in Chicago.

--The Edmonton Oilers, riding an improbable 4-game winning streak, are at home to the New York Rangers.

--Arizona will look to snap a 5-game losing skid at home to Minnesota.

--Anaheim entertains Carolina.

--And the league-leading Dallas Stars are at home to Philadelphia.

Figure Skating results from ISU FinalsIn figure skating,Jin Boyang sits in 3rd place following the men's short routine at the ISU Finals in Barcelona.

In the doubles competition,Yu Xiaoyu/Jin Yang are currently tied for 5th.

Baseball: Cubs reportedly sign Heyward to major dealIn off-season baseball news,The Chicago Cubs have reportedly signed free agent outfielder Jason Heyward.

People close to the negotiations say the Cubs have agreed to a $184 million, 8-year contract with Heyward.

If confirmed, the signing of the 3-time Gold Glove winner would be the latest in a series of big moves by the Cubs to try to win a World Series, something the team hasn't done since 1908.

The Cubs reached the NL Championship Series this year before being swept by the New York Mets.

Chicago has also signed pitcher John Lackey and infielder Ben Zobrist as part of their off-season moves.

Rio 2016 presents Paralympic torchThe mayor of Rio de Janerio admits not enough has been done to make the city ready for the Paralympics next year.

Eduardo Paes has made the admission while attending the unveiling of the torch design for the Paralympic Games next year.

"Although we have invested in the mobility of the city, taking accessibility into consideration, and although we are now in a better position because of the urban interventions we are making for the Olympics and Paralympics, thinking about accessibility, we are still very far from being what would be considered an accessible city."The Paralympic Games will take place following the close of the Olympics in Rio in early September.

Entertainment'Carol' Leads Golden Globe Awards Nominations'Carol' leads the nomination race at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards with five entries.

The period drama, which tells the story of two women who fall in love in the 1950s, will compete for best film drama, original score and best director.

Actresses Cate Blanchet and Rooney Mara are both up for best actress honors.

'The Revenant', 'The Big Short', and 'Steve Jobs' each earned four nods.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who scored a best actor nomination for his role in 'The Revenant', is widely considered as the front-runner to win the award this year.

He will be competing with last year's winner Eddie Redmayne in 'The Danish Girl', Michael Fassbender in 'Steve Jobs' and Will Smith in 'Concussion'.

In the television categories, American Crime, Fargo, Mr Robot, Outlander, Transparent and Wolf Hall all landed three nominations each.

Ricky Gervais will return to host the ceremony on January 10th.

Director Ron Howard receives his second star on the Hollywood Walk of FameAmerican actor and director Ron Howard has been awarded a second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in honor of his stellar movie directing career.

Speaking after receiving his new star, the 61-year-old director joked that having two stars could cause problems for people wandering through Hollywood late at night.

"I love this. I love being on Hollywood Boulevard, being a part of this tradition in this remarkable way now especially. Two stars? That's liable to be a little confusing for some people, you know, at two o'clock in the morning, maybe they've been out partying and they'll kind of be like, is this guy following us? I think we just saw him."In 1981, Howard received a star for his achievements in television - acting in "Happy Days" and "The Andy Griffith Show."He turned to directing with 1977's "Grand Theft Auto," before hitting box office gold with the likes of "Splash", "Cocoon" and Apollo 13".

In 2002, Howard won Oscars for best director and best film for "A Beautiful Mind."Howard's current project is "In the Heart of the Sea," starring Chris Hemsworth, Ben Whishaw and Brendan Gleeson.

The film is being released in the U.S Friday 11th.

Liverpool is named the City of MusicLiverpool, the birthplace of one of the world's most famous music bands Beatles, has been declared as England's first UNESCO City of Music.

According to UNESCO, two factors won the title for the city: One is the place of music at the heart of Liverpool's contemporary culture, education and the economy; and the other is the city's commitment to having a clearly defined music, education and skills strategy for young people.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said Liverpool was renowned for its musical influence and that this status was the ultimate, and appropriate, accolade for a city which lives and breathes music.

He said Liverpool was already the World 'Capital of Pop', and that the latest award came 11 years after UNESCO awarded it World Heritage Site status.

Zhejiang Normal University opens a centre on Africa film and televisionChina's Zhejiang Normal University has opened a research centre on African film and television as part of its efforts to further mutual understanding and cooperation.

The focus will be academic exchanges and developing talent.

Director of the centre Liu Hongwu said "Chinese people's understanding of Africa is still limited, and many Africans often equate China with nothing more than food and martial arts."Earlier in 2011 and 2013, a Chinese TV comedy series featuring a modern Chinese couple aired in Tanzania and Kenya, and was popular with local audiences.

Starting from September, viewers in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa will enjoy some 30 Chinese TV series and movies through Startimes — a leading Chinese-run TV channel in sub-Saharan Africa—reaching 80 percent of the region's population.

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

A recap of your headlines:

A final draft of the Paris Climate Change accord set to be put to negotiators later on this Saturday.

On behalf of co-host Bob Jones and the rest of the Beijing Hour team: This is Paul James in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour, to open a window to the world together.