新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 08:00 2016/02/15（在线收听）

The Beijing Hour

Morning Edition

Bob Jones with you this Monday February 15th 2016.

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

Coming up on the program.

Hundreds march in Hong Kong to condemn last week's riot in Mong Kok and to show support for the police.

As reconstruction continues, Five million yuan donated by the Mainland for Taiwan quake relief.

Civilian casualties of the conflict in Afghanistan have risen to record levels for the seventh year in row.

In Business - China urges the EU to be prudent, restrained and lawful in it's anti-dumping investigations.

In Sport - China success at last at the AFC Futsal Championship in Tashkent.

And in Entertainment - The Mermaid takes the top honors at the Spring Festival box office here in China.

Top News

Hundreds March In Support Of Police after Hong Kong Riot

Anchor

Civil groups in Hong Kong have taken part in a march to condemn last week's riot in Mong Kok and to show support for the police force.

Around 300 people took part in the riot in early hours on last Tuesday. Nearly 100 police officers as well as four journalists were injured.

CRI's Li Jianhua has more.

Reporter

Led by the civil group 'Alliance in Support of Our Police Force', more than 200 demonstrators gathered at Hong Kong's landmark Clock Tower, holding up banners and signboards and shouting slogans in support of the police.

Leticia Lee is the founder of the Alliance and was the main organizer of the pro-police march. She called on the local government to reflect on the situation and thoroughly investigate events.

"All Hong Kong residents should do some soul-searching after this incident, because it takes two to tango. As we all can see, the government has to figure out ways to deal with the anger in our young people. After the arrests of rioters, we have to press on and make clear what they want and what motivated them to participate in such a riot."

Meanwhile, Lam Siu-lun, the honorary president of the Hong Kong Tourism Practitioners' Union says such violent attacks posed a great threat to the city's tourism sector.

"Frankly, any recurrence of violent incidents or riots like this will have a disastrous effect on the situation and keep tourists away for a long time to come."

About 300 people participated in the riot in early hours on last Tuesday at Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping areas.

The riot erupted after a handful of illegal street vendors refused to halt trading and clashed with law enforcement officials.

Nearly 100 police officers as well as four journalists were injured as a result.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the central government in Hong Kong says the government severely condemned the separatists' violent behaviors.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also called on all political parties not to make excuses for the bloody violence.

"The government is calling on the public, especially the political parties, not to make excuses for, or attempt to rationalize the violence and the motivations behind it, let alone whitewashing the rioters."

Rita Fan, a deputy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, criticized the riot as a cowardly venting of hatred, which brings harm to the Hong Kong people.

"All of them wore headscarves and masks and would not show their true faces. You had the guts to clash with police and to attack officers with bricks, but had no guts to face the consequences. Were those brave or cowardly acts? I believe it is clear to all Hong Kong residents."

As of Saturday, police had arrested more than 60 suspects and 41 of them have been charged with rioting.

Ma Yan-kwok, barrister with High Court of Hong Kong, described the violence as a severe criminal offence rather than a simple act of assembly.

"Their action has obviously overstepped the limit of freedom of assembly. The case should be dealt with by criminal law. This is a severe criminal offence. I believe it is highly likely that the violators will be convicted as criminals of riot. They need a warning so that their followers won't do it again."

A survey shows more than half of Hong Kong local residents interviewed say they believe the protestors should be held responsible for the incident, and hoped all political parties could set aside prejudices and find a solution through negotiation.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

Search Ends With Last Missing Body Found After Taiwan Earthquake

Rehabilitation work is still underway to deal with the aftermath of the earthquake that struck southern Taiwan on February 6 that left 116 people dead.

Tainan city vice mayor Zeng Xuzheng says the current priority is to finish the clean-up as soon as possible and restore normal traffic.

"Our work today is to clean up the waste and steel on the Yongda road, carry out resurfacing, and re-open it open to traffic. Disinfection is also on-going in the surrounding areas, so far we are sterilizing both the south and the north.

The search and rescue operation has now come to an end, with the discovery of the body of the last missing resident from the earthquake on Saturday.

The rescue operation had lasted for seven-and-a-half days.

Immediately after the quake, the local authorities started to evaluate damaged buildings reported by local residents.

More than 120 of which were deemed unsuitable for people to live in.

Tainan city mayor Lai Qingde suggested some residents should not to move back into their homes, and promised that the government would provide funds for home rebuilding or repurchasing.

"Although the houses are not listed in the "red list", I would suggest you not to go back. At least wait until we help you make it safe, then you can go back in."

Assistance has been offered by the Chinese mainland.

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi Jinping, has conveyed his condolences to the victims in the earthquake.

Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan. Most of them are minor.

Mainland Donates 5 Million Yuan for Taiwan Quake Relief

The mainland's Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits has donated 5 million yuan to authorities in Taiwan following this month's strong earthquake.

The money is being earmarked for the victims' relatives and the injured.

It's going to be distributed through the Red Cross.

Mainland religious groups, companies and local governments have generated the donation.

A 6.7-magnitude quake rattled southern Taiwan on February 6th, leaving 116 people dead.

China's 1st Zika patient discharged from hospital

The first patient in China diagnosed with the Zika virus has been discharged from hospital in Jiangxi.

Doctors at the Ganxian County hospital say the 34-year-old man is no longer showing Zika symptoms, and is testing negative for the virus.

"The nucleic acid tests of the patient's blood and urine all show negative results. We've reported the results to disease control authorities at the city and provincial levels. They have since passed on the information to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, which has allowed the patient to be discharged from hospital."

The patient developed a fever, headache and dizziness on January 28th while traveling in Venezuela.

He then returned to China on February 5th via Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

He was admitted to hospital the next day, and was confirmed with the Zika virus 3-days later.

So far, the mosquito-borne virus has affected more than 30 countries around the world.

The virus, which began re-emerging in South America late last year, is being blamed for an increasing number of microcephaly cases, in which an infant's head is significantly smaller than normal.

The World Health Organization says it could be a year-and-a-half before any large-scale clinical trials of a Zika vaccine may take place.

New Guideline Describes Responsibility for Left-Behind Children

The State Council has released new guidelines for the protection of so-called left-behind children.

These are children whose parents work away from home.

While stressing the parents' primary responsibilities, the State Council also says local governments and village committees need to keep themselves well-informed about the children to ensure they are properly taken care of.

An onus is also being placed on education authorities and schools to ensure the children can study and live safely.

Local governments are also being allowed to contract charities and local volunteers to provide professional services for the children.

It's estimated around 60 million children are considered left-behind here in China.

Spring Festival Stats

Latest stats are suggesting a record number of trips have been made during this year's Spring Festival holiday.

Data from the Ministry of Transport suggest passenger trips reached around 400 million between February 7th to the 13th, up 6.7 percent from last year.

Over 47 million trips were made by rail, more than 330 million on road and about 8.5 million by air.

At the same time, tourism revenues are also up during the week-long holiday.

The National Tourism Administration says tourism revenues have increased over 16 percent from last year to top 360-billion yuan.

Estimates suggest the now-concluded holiday also saw a record number of digital red envelopes, or cash gifts, exchanged.

Tencent is reporting its electronic red envelopes were sent and received more than 32 billion times through WeChat during the holiday.

The company says people born after 1990 sent nearly 2.6 billion envelopes, the largest number among the various age groups.

Valentine's Day Celebrated across China

Anchor

Millions of lovers worldwide have been marking St. Valentine's Day with gifts of flowers and chocolates, romantic meals and special surprises.

In the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan it was no exception - with many couples finding their own special way to symbolize their love for each other.

CRI's Luo Bin with more.

Reporter

Valentine's Day this year coincided with the first day back at work in the mainland after the 7-day holiday for Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.

While millions of migrants were struggling on icy roads back to work from hometowns, some young couples flocked to local civil affairs bureaus to get marriage certificates.

In the Yuexiu District of south China's Guangzhou City, some newlyweds arrived on the doorstep of the local marriage registry office as early as 5 am.

"I got up at 05:00, and came here before 05:30. There was nobody else in the whole street at that time. And I am trying my luck to see whether I can get registered. I heard from the television news that we can still get registered without making an appointment, so I came here."

The bureau saw more than 800 couples register across the whole day, more than three times of that of a normal workday.

Many Marriage registry offices across the mainland were also crowded on Sunday too.

Newlywed Luan Mingyu got registered in northern Taiyuan city.

He said it was a significant day to get married.

"Why do I choose to get married today? Because it is Feb. 14, St Valentine's Day, and we can celebrate the day together with our wedding anniversary each year in the future. I'm very happy at the moment."

To cater for the huge number of newlyweds, local marriage departments had made preparations in advance.

Shi Sumei works at a marriage registry in Sanmenxia city, Henan province.

"According to our previous experience, Feb. 14 is a date favored by young couples. So our staff had already made preparations in advance, so that we could provide a clean, neat and warm environment for the newlyweds."

In New Taipei City, a traditional Sky Lantern festival was held to mark this year's lovers' day, but this year there was an extra dimension to the event.

Hundreds of participants, including the island's leader Ma Ying-jeou, wrote special wishes onto some 1,400 lanterns which were released skywards - not only for themselves, but also in memory of the victims of the recent Tainan earthquake.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, people flocked to visit a public art installation "Light Rose Garden" at Tamar Park.

The artwork consists of 25,000 white roses made from LED lights representing the bridging of the romantic traditions of St Valentine's Day and the Lantern Festival which comes on the final day of the Chinese New Year period.

The garden was devised by artists from South Korea and the Hong Kong is the final stop on a world tour.

For CRI, this is Luo Bin.

Foreign Firms Remain Confident in China's Economy

Anchor

Despite the economic slowdown China currently faces, the majority of foreign companies still remain confident in the Chinese market and have shown growing interest in investmenting in the country.

CRI's Luo Wen has more.

Reporter

The American Chamber of Commerce in China has suggested in a recent survey that the business environment in China is getting tougher due to rising labor costs and regulatory challenges such as online controls and monopoly probes.

However, the report also shows China remains a top-three investment priority for 60 percent of the respondents, and close to 70 percent of member firms remain positive about China's economic outlook in the next two years.

Director-General of Japan External Trade Organization's Beijing Office, Yoshihisa Tabata says Japanese investment to China is rising.

"China's economy is slowing down. But few Japanese firms feel that the fact has a negative effect on the Chinese market. They believe that an economic slowdown is normal under China's "New Normal". Many Japanese companies think that they should expand their businesses in China in the current economic climate."

Chairman of BVWM China Bosman has led German business delegations to China for many times and he is also quite positive about the Chinese market.

"We have quite a good overview about the Chinese market. We brought seven members and many delegations from Germany to China because we want to show our companies opportunities in China so they have more outgoing investments from Germany that means FDI for China."

Data released by China's Ministry of Commerce shows the amount of foreign capital investment reached over 126 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 6.4 percent year-on-year.

The data also shows a total of 26,575 foreign-invested enterprises were set up across China last year, a 12 percent increase on the previous year.

Tang Wenhong, head of Foreign Investment Division of China's Ministry of Commerce, adds that investment in China's burgeoning service industry and high-tech manufacturing continued with a robust growth last year.

"Last year, the actual use of foreign capital in the service industry reached 477 billion yuan, up some 17 percent year on year. The actual use of foreign capital in high-tech manufacturing stood at 58.35 billion yuan, up 9.5 percent year on year."

Earlier this month, China further loosened controls over investment of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors as a means to further open up the domestic capital market.

Under the new policy, the investment amount is subject to a ceiling of 5 billion U.S. dollars, up from one billion U.S. dollars previously.

For CRI, this is Luo Wen.

Obama to Host ASEAN Leaders

A meeting between leaders of the United States and ASEAN countries will begin later today in California.

The free-of-protocol meeting, the first of its kind in the United States, is expected to mainly focus on cooperation in trade, maritime security and counter-terrorism.

National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink

"The summit demonstrates our enduring commitment to the Asia-Pacific and to ASEAN and builds on a momentum of the new US-ASEAN strategic partnership which we announced last November in Kuala Lumpur, and which is designed to expand cooperation on our shared priorities including trade, maritime security and counter-terrorism."

It's highly expected that China-related issues will dominate the two-day session, but Daniel Russel, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said China would not be a highlight this time.

"Each of us, all 11 of us, have tremendously important and multi-faceted relationships with China. None of that alters the fact that the focus of this summit is on what the US and ASEAN can achieve together for the benefit of our citizens as well as the region overall."

It's reported neither an official statement nor a joint communiqué will be issued after the meeting.

Some U.S. media and regional experts have also suggested that since Obama is running out of time during his presidential term, the meeting is doomed to yield nothing substantial.

Putin, Obama Discuss Syrian Crisis Over Phone

Russian and American presidents Vladmir Putin and Barack Obama have discussed the Syrian crisis by phone.

During the conversation, both leaders expressed support for the tasks of achieving ceasefire and delivering humanitarian aid, while agreeing to intensify cooperation through diplomatic and other channels to implement the agreement reached at the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting.

The two leaders also touched on the situation in Ukraine, especially the implementation of the Minsk accords.

Relations between Russia and Western countries have been undermined by disputes over the Syria and Ukraine issues, with both sides waging a sanctions war and cutting dialogue.

Syria Slams Turkey for Shelling Syrian Territory

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Turkish artillery shelling against Syria's northern province of Aleppo.

The ministry, through the Syrian state news agency SANA, said "the Turkish heavy artillery shelling against Syrian territories is a direct Turkish support to the armed terrorist groups and an attempt to lift the morale of those defeated groups."

Also, Syria regards Turkey's military intervention in Syria as an outright violation of the resolutions of the UN Security Council with regard to fighting terrorism.

Meanwhile, Turkish officials said the shelling was in retaliation to fire from the Kurdish fighters' positions against Turkey, a claim denied by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party.

Turkey on Saturday demanded the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured from insurgents in the northern Aleppo region.

The shelling has killed two fighters so far.

Saudi Troop Deployment in Syria Up To U.S.-Led Coalition

Saudi Arabia has said any move to deploy Saudi Special Forces into Syria would depend on a decision by the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State insurgents.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir made the remark in a joint news conference with his Swiss counterpart in Riyadh.

"The kingdom's readiness to provide Special Forces to any ground operations in Syria is linked to a decision to have a ground component to this coalition against Daesh in Syria - this is a U.S.-led coalition - so the timing is not up to us. We have said that should the U.S.-led coalition make a decision to introduce ground troops into Syria, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be prepared to participate by deploying special forces with those troops."

Saudi Arabia on Saturday confirmed it had sent aircraft to NATO-member Turkey's Incirlik air base for the fight against Islamic State militants.

Also, in the news conference, Jubeir rejected Switzerland's offer to handle Saudi Arabia's consular affairs in Iran, following the diplomatic dispute between Riyadh and Tehran.

"Restoring relations requires a moderation of Iran's policies and the acts that Iran is taking in the region. For that reason, I don't think there is a need for mediation at this present time."

The Swiss minister said his country would serve as a mediator as and when the two countries were ready.

The crisis between the two countries started when Saudi Arabia executed a Shi'ite cleric in January, triggering outrage among Shi'ites across the Middle East.

Protesters in Iran stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, after which Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic relations with Iran.

Iran has also cut all commercial ties with the Saudis and banned pilgrims from traveling to Mecca.

Iran's President to Visit Turkey for Talks on Mutual Cooperation

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani is set to visit Turkey in the coming months to discuss an array of issues of mutual interest.

Iranian ambassador to Ankara Alireza Bigdeli said during Rouhani's time in Turkey, the president will attend the Iran-Turkey High Level Cooperation Council (HLCC).

The HLCC, established in 2014, has served to strengthen the ties between Turkey and Iran.

Bigdeli said that friendly relations between Iran and Turkey had provided the assurance that the ties were on the right and positive track, and that the path would be continued in the long-term.

Despite differences over Syria, the two neighbors have good relations in other respects -- trade between the two countries has been increasing in the past years.

The first meeting of the HLCC was held in Ankara in mid-2014 during Rouhani's visit to Turkey; and the second one was in April 2015 in Iran during a visit by the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Civilian War Casualties in Afghanistan Rise to Record Level

A United Nations report says the number of civilian casualties of the war in Afghanistan rose to record levels for the seventh year in row in last year.

It's the result of a wave of violence that has spread across the country since the withdrawal of most international troops.

Nicholas Haysom, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan says more than 11,000 Afghans, including civilians and non-combatants, died or were injured last year.

"We recognize that all the parties to the conflict have agreed on the need to avoid civilian casualties but what we need to see are the same parties going beyond public statements to change the way they conduct the war. What I want to do is next year, when we release our report for 2016, to be able to report to you that there has been a significant drop in civilian causalities."

UN investigators note that ground engagements were the leading cause of civilian casualties, followed by roadside bombs, and suicide attacks.

Danielle Bell, director of the U.N. human rights program in Afghanistan says women and children were especially hard hit.

"Of the 11,002 civilian casualties one in ten was a woman and one in four was a child. The number of women casualties increased by 37 percent while child casualties increased by 14 percent."

Since the UN began systematically recording civilian casualties in Afghanistan in 2009, it has documented nearly 59,000 deaths and injuries.

There have been more civilian deaths in the first months of this year.

Earlier in February, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Kabul, killing 10 people and wounding 20 after joining a queue to get into a police station.

New Libyan Government to be Announced Later Today

The UN-backed new Libyan Government of National Accord has been announced.

Libya's Presidential Council announced late on Sunday it has formed a unity government aimed at ending the chaos that has engulfed the country for years.

Since the fall of Muammar Gadaffi, Libya has suffered a political division, with two rival parliaments and governments battling for legitimacy.

A government named on January 19 following a UN-sponsored peace agreement was rejected by the rival parliaments and factions.

It is hoped the new government will bring an end to the political division in Libya and help counter growing militant extremism.

Weather

Beijing will be sunny with a high of 5 degrees Celsius.

Overnight temperatures should drop down to minus 2.

Shanghai will be sunny with a high of 6 and a low of 1.

In Chongqing, it will be overcast with a high of 7 and lows of 5.

Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,

Islamabad will be cloudy with a high of 20.

Kabul will be cloudy with a high of 2.

Over to North America,

New York will see slight rain with a high of 5 degrees.

Washington, sleet with a high of 1 degrees.

Honolulu, cloudy, 27.

Toronto will see sleet with a high of 0 degrees.

Finally, on to South America,

Buenos Aires will be cloudy with a high of 35.

And Rio de Janeiro will see slight rain with a high of 33 degrees Celsius.

Headline news

Beijing Official Denounces Mong Kok Riot

A central government official in Hong Kong is pointing to sepratism as a factor behind this month's riot in Mong Kok.

Zhang Xiaoming, who heads the mainland's Liason Office in Hong Kong, says the rioting which broke out at the start of the Spring Festival has "characteristics of terrorism."

Authorities in Hong Kong have pointed to a group of so-called "localists" in Hong Kong as being behind the rioting which left over 100 people hurt.

The violence broke in the Mong Kok district of Kowloon after police moved in to try to remove local street vendors.

Dozens are facing charges after attacking police with stones and trashing public property.

China reports safer lunar New Year holiday

Security officials in Beijing say the seven-day Spring Festival holiday recorded fewer traffic accidents compared to previous years.

The Ministry of Public Security says road accidents and deaths were down by more than 30 percent compared to last year.

More than 1.5 million traffic violations were recorded across the country during the festival, of which more than 47-hundred were for drunk driving.

As more and more cars take to the roads each year for the festival, police are facing increasing difficulty maintaining traffic safety.

More than 140-thousand police officers and 40-thousand patrol cars were deployed during the holiday.

In addition, the officials say that festive celebrations in major cities and scenic spots were safe and orderly this year, with no serious fires, firework explosions, or stampedes reported.

Xi's remarks on sci-tech innovation published

A compilation of comments from Chinese President Xi Jinping connected to scientific and technological innovation has been published.

The compilation contains nearly 190 remarks selected from 50 different speeches, articles and written instructions from the President between December 2012 and December of last year 2015.

Many of them are being published for the first time.

20 Countries Prepare For Military Maneuver in Saudi Arabia

Military forces from 20 different countries are arriving in Saudi Arabia for military exercises.

"Thunder of North" is being dubbed the region's most important military exercise.

It's going to involve ground, air and naval forces.

The maneuver comes as Saudi Arabian authorities contemplate sending in ground forces into Syria to try to root-out the Islamic State.

In addition to six Gulf Arab countries, other countries such as Pakistan and Egypt also will participate in the exercise.

50 Couples Get Hitched In Hot Air Balloons over Latvia

Fifty couples have gotten married in hot air balloons flying in eastern Latvia to mark Valentine's Day.

The mass wedding ceremony has been organized as part of the activities to the local hot air balloon festival.

The love-themed "Love Cup 2016" will run for 3-days.

The event sees hot air balloon enthusiasts from around the world.

Biz Reports

Market Preview

Anchor

Turning to the business news. First let's get a preview of what we can expect on the markets this week.

On Monday,

China will aggregate yuan financing, new yuan loans, money supply and trade surplus.

The Euro area trade balance will also be announced.

The US market is closed for Presidents Day.

On Tuesday, U.S. treasury will release its international capital data for December.

On Wednesday, It's the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) final demand for January. Consensus is there'll be a decline of 0.2 per cent from December and a decline of 0.6 per cent year on year.

U.S. housing stats for January will also be released. An annualized rate increase of 1.8 per cent is expected.

Meanwhile, investors can also access US industrial production and capacity utilization for January. Consensus estimates are an increase of 0.3 per cent and 76.7 per cent, respectively.

On Thursday, China will publish its CPI and PPI numbers for last month.

The U.S. will announce its initial jobless figures for last week. The Estimate is 275,000, an increase of 6,000 from week beginning February 6.

On the same day, investors will also find out the U.S. leading indicator for January. It's expected to show a decline of 0.2 per cent from December.

On Friday, Japan will release its all-industry activity index. The Euro area will publish its consumer confidence survey.

U.S. consumer prices for January will also be released. Consensus is a decline of 0.1 per cent from December and an increase of 1.3 per cent year on year.

China to Boost Service Trade and Upgrade Medication Sector

China's cabinet has announced plans to focus on service trade development.

The statement has been issued following a meeting of the State Council on Sunday.

It says a priority will be given to expanding foreign market access into the services sector.

Added policy support will be given to pilot areas through tax incentives.

Technology-based service firms will be the focus.

Authorities also plan to provide financial support to small and medium-sized services companies.

Banks are also being told to give these types of firms support through preferential loans.

A statement from the State Council also says plans are being worked on to better-support the medication sector.

This is going to include a focus on traditional Chinese medicine.

China Central Bank: No Reason for Yuan To Fall Further

Anchor

People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan says the Chinese yuan has no basis for further depreciation. The central banks chief blamed foreign speculators in part for the volatility of the yuan.

He said China would keep the yuan basically stable versus a basket of currencies while allowing greater volatility against the U.S. dollar.

In addition, Zhou Xiaochuan suggested that speculators should not be allowed to dominate market sentiment regarding China's foreign exchange reserves and it was quite normal for reserves to fall and rise.

Zhou said he believes yuan exchange reform will help the market be more flexible in dealing with speculative forces.

For more on the Chinese currency reform and last week's global market turbulence, we are joined live on line by Mike Bastin, Director of the China Business Centre at Southampton Solent University based in London.

Talking Points:

Q1: How will the yuan exchange reform help the market to deal with the speculative forces?

Q2: What risks do you think will be brought by the currency reform?

Q3: Last week marks a dark period as most bourses in the world saw their benchmark indexes tumble. Some investors blamed China for the recent financial market turmoil. But Chinese stock markets were closed for lunar New Year holidays and the country did not release any economic data or new policies last week. So what factors contributed to the market turbulence?

Q4: Do you think the global declines raised concerns that the Chinese shares could drop when the market opens later this morning?

Back Anchor:

That was Mike Bastin, Director of the China Business Centre at Southampton Solent University based in London.

China Opens Bond Market to Individual Investors

China's central bank from Sunday is allowing individual investors to purchase all types of bonds over bank counters.

Individuals can now buy any bonds they like over the counter if they have an annual income of more than 500 thousand yuan, that's about 76 thousand US dollars, 3 million yuan of financial assets and over two years of securities investment experience.

Previously, only certificate treasury bonds were available to individuals.

The central bank says the new policy aims to boost the bond market and direct financing.

China's bond market boomed last year thanks to government moves to diversify corporate financing channels.

Over 22 trillion yuan of new bonds were issued last year, almost double the sum in 2014.

China Urges EU to Strictly Follow WTO Rules on Anti-Dumping Investigations

China has urged the European Commission to follow World Trade Organization rules on anti-dumping investigations into Chinese steel exports.

On Sunday, the European Commission said it would investigate steel imports and launch provisional anti-dumping measures on cold-rolled flat steel products originating from China.

China's Ministry of Commerce says the European Commission should be prudent, restrained and lawful in employing trade remedy instruments.

An official with the ministry says China always advocates dialogue to tackle the problems.

Unionpay Transactions Surge in Spring Festival Spree

New figures show transactions made through China UnionPay hit a record high through the Spring Festival.

Transactions through UnionPay at home and abroad hit some 310 billion yuan, or close to 50-billion U.S. dollars.

This is an over 30-percent increase from last year.

Most of the growth has been seen in Japan, South Korea and the United States.

China UnionPay is the firm responsible for Chinese bank card transactions in China and over 100 other countries and regions.

Virtual Network Operator Continues Developing In China

The Virtual Network Operator (VNO) is expected to see further development in China, folowing a two-year pilot stage.

VNO's are wireless communications services providers who do not own the wifi network infrastructure, but who provides services to its customers using it.

Xu Lidong, director of telecom industry research department of China Academy of Telecommunication Research, says VNO's offer a lot of advantages.

"First, it can lead to the decrease in overall mobile charges, as the low or no-threshold requirement created by the VNO and its usage billing model have brought benefits to the public. Secondly, as we can see, they have improved innovation across the whole industry, even some basic operators are now follow their models. Thirdly, innovations are inspiring internet collaborations that the original basic operators hasn't tried before, and this can help further promote the market's prosperity, and push it towards a higher level,"

VNO's began to operating in China from the end of 2013.

Sports

NBA All-Star Game to Get Underway

In basketball,

This year's NBA All-Star game is set to get underway in just over an hour's time.

The event in Toronto has been focused mostly on Kobe Bryant.

The LA Laker is taking part in his 18th and final All-Star game this year, as he's set to retire after this season.

Ahead of the today's game, the skills competitions have taken place.

It was Zach Lavine defending his title in the Slam Dunk competition.

The Minnesota Timberwolf outlasted Aaron Gordon for his 2nd-straight title.

Arsenal score in stoppage time to beat EPL leaders Leicester City 2-1

In football,

Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande has gone down to FC Copenhagen 3-1 in the second of their spring warm-up matches in Dubai.

It was Zheng Long scoring the only goal for Guangzhou.

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In the English Premier League,

Danny Welbeck has made a triumphant return to Arsenal's line-up, notching a stoppage-time winner to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory over Leicester last night.

It's Welbeck's first game following a 10-mouth injury layoff.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

"It will strengthen our belief that we are in the fight because we had a bit of a dodgy spell with Liverpool 3-3, Stoke 0-0, we lost against Chelsea, played 0-0 at home against Southampton - so, now after that we win two games and we are still mathematically in the fight, so that will strengthen our belief of course."

With the win, Arsenal now moves into a 2nd-place tie in points at 51 with Tottenham.

Leicester stays two points ahead of them at 53.

Tottenham has maintained pace with a 2-1 win over Manchester City.

Hotspurs manager Mauricio Pochettino.

"It's important to tell you that we are still the youngest club on the Premier (League) and it's important, this type of game and the experience they (the players) now put on themselves, inside. It's important to start to feel that when you come to play on a pitch or in a stadium like Manchester City - a big, big team - you can win. It's a very important thing for the future."

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In other action,

It was Liverpool destroying Aston Villa 6-0.

Futsal: China beat Jordan 5-1 in Group B of the AFC Futsal Championship

China's national futsal team has returned home after beating Jordan 5-1 in its final game of this year's AFC Futsal Championship in Tashkent.

The win is the first and only victory at the tournament after going down to Iraq and Iran in the previous group matches.

Futsal is an indoor version of soccer, played with 5-aside.

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In other action,

It was Iran claiming the group title with a 13-2 win over Iraq.

Both teams have secured their places in the quarter-finals.

Next up for Iran is Kyrgyzstan, who got past Saudi Arabia 3-2.

Iraq will next take on Uzbekistan, who beat Lebanon 2-0 last night.

The top five finishers will book spots at the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia in September.

Silver and bronze for Chinese skaters at ISU events

In speed skating,

Olympic champion Zhang Hong has finished 3rd in the final of the women's 500 meter event at the ISU World Championships in Russia.

The gold medal went to Zhang's arch rival and world record holder Lee Sang-Hwa.

Chinese skater Yu Jing finished 7th.

Meanwhile,

At the World Cup in the Netherlands,

Guo Yihan finished runner-up to Canadian Marianne St. Gelais in the women's 15-hunderd meter final.

The other Chinese skater in the final, Yin Qi, finished fifth.

Hockey: New Jersey moves into 3rd in Metropolitan

In action from earlier today in the National Hockey League,

The New Jersey Devils have moved into 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division, shutting out the visiting LA Kings 1-0 earlier this morning.

Jersey bumps the idol New York Islanders down into the Wild Card position in the East, though the Islanders have played three-fewer games.

In other action,

It was Buffalo surprising Colorado 4-1.

Despite only stopping 18 of 23 shots, Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazak earned the Red Wings a 6-5 win over Boston.

On the ice right now, its Tampa Bay entertaining the St. Louis Blues.

And later on this morning, its the New York Rangers at home to Philadelphia.

Vinci beats Bencic to win St Petersburg Ladies Trophy

In tennis,

Hometown favorites Chan Yung-Jan and Chan Hao-Ching have won their first doubles title of this year, defeating the Japanese duo Eri Hozumi and Miyu Kato in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Taiwan Open.

In women's singles,

It was top seeded Venus Williams winning the title after ousting Japan's Misaki Doi for her 49th career title.

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In other action,

2nd seed Roberta Vinci cruised past Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 to win the St. Petersburg WTA event.

It's the Italian's 10th career title and her first at the WTA Premier level.

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On the men's side,

Martin Klizan has come from behind to win his 4th career title after upsetting France's Gael Monfils in a three-set battle at the Rotterdam World Tennis event.

"It is my best result of course in my career, so far. As I said, I am very very proud of it and also for our country (Slovakia). We are not a big country and young guys, young players, maybe I can be a little motivation for them so I'm very happy for that and as I said, it's my best result and I am very happy for it."

The world number 43 from Slovakia had to save 8 match points in his previous matches to even make it into the final.

Charl Schwartzel romps to eight-shot victory

In golf,

Pre-tournament favourite Charl Schwartzel has cruised to victory in the Tshwane Open in South Africa to claim his 11th European Tour title and 8th on home soil.

The 31-year-old fired final round of 63 to claim the title at 16-minus.

"The first three days I was blind as a bat. Last day I was 'eagle eyes.' It's nice to put everything together. I felt like I have been playing really well this week and it's just frustrating when you don't putt very well and don't convert and to make the putts when it counts, that's even more satisfying."

Denmark's Jeff Winther finished 2nd at minus-8.

South African Anthony Michael, who held the lead after the second round, finished third.

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At the PGA's Pro-Am tournament at Pebble Beach.

Veteran Phil Mickleson opened up the final round with a lead after a 6-under-66 on Saturday.

"Lefty" is currently trailing a group of three others, one-stroke back at minus-15.

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On the women's side,

New Zealander Lydia Ko has taken the New Zealand Women's Open.

The world number-1 finished with a 2-stroke victory at minus-10.

Ko's final round started off just 10-minutes after a 5.7-magnitude earthquake rattled the region.

Entertainment

'The Revenant' Wins Big At 69th BAFTAs

The winners of the 69th British Academy Film Awards or the BAFTAs have just been unveiled.

'The Revenant' claimed the best film award at the show held in London on Sunday.

Lead actor Leonardo Di Caprio won Best actor, and director Alejandro Inarritu picked up Best Director award.

Brie Larson won Best Actress for her performance in "Room", beating the likes of Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, Maggie Smith and Alicia Vikander.

Kate Winslet won Best Supporting Actress, while Mark Rylance scooping Best Supporting Actor.

The first award of the show, for Outstanding British Film went to "Brooklyn".

This year's BAFTAs - the biggest film awards outside the U.S took place at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

It was hosted by comedian and writer, Stephen Fry.

"Mermaid" Tops China's Lunar New Year Holiday Box Office

Stephen Chow's latest comedy "The Mermaid" turned out to be the must-see movie of the Spring Festival.

(Mermaid clip)

"The Mermaid" has topped the holiday box office, grossing some 1.5 billion yuan, or some 230 million US dollars.

It's 41 million US dollar opening last week already nabbed the crown for the highest single-day gross at the Chinese box office.

"The Mermaid" appears well positioned to make a run at Monster Hunt's 390 million US dollars record in China set last summer.

Meanwhile, "The Man From Macau 3" has taken 2nd place at the Chinese box office during Spring Festival, taking in 680 million yuan.

"The Monkey King 2" came in 3rd, earning 650 million yuan.

In North America,

"Deadpool" has taken the box office by storm, taking in 135 million US dollars through its first 3-days in theaters.

(Deadpool clip)

The Marvel film stars Ryan Reynolds as a foul-mouthed superhero.

"Deadpool" has become the biggest R-rated opening ever.

"Kung Fu Panda 3" has come in at number-2 in its third weekend, with 20 million US dollars.

Another two new releases, "How to Be Single" and "Zoolander 2," have come in 3rd and 4th.

Lionel Richie Crowned Person of the Year

Ahead of the upcoming Grammy awards, music stars have gathered in Los Angeles to crown Lionel Richie as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year.

The honoree says he was ecstatic when he was notified he was chosen as Person of the Year:

"This is a big deal and you have to understand in my recording business there's the Grammys and then there's this heavenly place to go to which is to be recognized by the Academy and if they honor you at MusicCares you are really in the high cognizant. I am celebrating this whole thing is wonderful."

The event, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, looked back on some of Richie's best-loved songs.

Rihanna, Stevie Wonder, Demi Lovato and John Legend were some of the musicians who performed at the dinner and private event.

The ceremony honoring Richie is part of the events leading up to the Grammy Awards, which is set to take place at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles on Monday local time.

Coldplay Finally Top UK Album Chart With 'A Head Full Of Dreams'

Coldplay's "A Head Full of Dreams" has finally topped the UK album chart, 10 weeks after its release.

The album was boosted by the British band's Superbowl performance a week ago.

The latest chart position gives the band their seventh UK number one album, with all their studio releases now having hit the top spot.

Adele's 25 is at number two, climbing two places for its 12th week on the album chart.

The number one of the previous week - David Bowie compilation "Best Of Bowie" stands at number 3.

Justin Bieber's "Purpose" is at four, while Bowie's final album "Blackstar" has fallen three places to five in the chart.

Motion Picture Academy Hands Out Sci-Tech Awards

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' annual Scientific and Technical Awards have been handed out.

The Oscar granting organization recognized 10 scientific and technical achievements with 33 recipients receiving either an Academy plaque or certificate.

Honorees brought a wide array of achievements to the event.

A special award was also granted to the SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) for one hundred years of contribution to motion picture technological standards.　

The event is co-hosted by actors Jason Segel and Olivia Munn at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

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

Recapping our top stories ...

Hundreds march in Hong Kong to condemn last week's riot in Mong Kok and to show support for the police.

Five million yuan donated by the Mainland for Taiwan quake relief.

Civilian casualties of the conflict in Afghanistan have risen to record levels for the seventh year in row.

On behalf of the rest of the Beijing Hour team, this is Bob Jones in Beijing hoping you'll join us for our next edition of the Beijing Hour to open a window to the world together.