The Beijing HourMorning EditionShane Bigham with you on this Wednesday, July 01st, 2015.Welcome to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese Capital. Coming up on our program this morning...The Chinese premier and French leaders have overseen the signing of numerous cooperation deals covering a wide range of issues...Chinese authorities unveil deep and ambitious cuts to the country's carbon emissions, to be reached by 2030...And the Greek government requests more time to repay the IMF as talks over the country's debt continue...In Business...Chinese stocks record significant gains during a volatile trading session on Tuesday...In Sports...Chinese tennis player Duan Yingying scores a major upset at Wimbledon...In entertainment...an exhibition of Disney artwork spanning 90 years opens in Beijing...Top NewsPremier meets French leaders, pledges curbs on carbon emissions AnchorVisiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has held separate meetings with French President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and parliamentary leaders on the first day of his four-day visit to France.In addition to a string of cooperation deals signed after the meetings, the Chinese premier has also announced new and ambitious goals in fighting climate change.More details from CRI's Qi Zhi.ReporterClimate change is high on the agenda of Premier Li Keqiang's time in France as the country will host the Paris Climate Change Conference at the end of this year.The premier says China has formulated a document about its voluntary actions on cutting emissions and submitted it to the UN Climate Change Secretariat."We must cut carbon emissions by sixty to sixty five percent compared to 2005 and we must increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to twenty percent and increase forest reserves by 4.5 billion cubic meters compared to 2005. All these demand strenuous efforts to achieve."In the document, China, which is the world's largest greenhouse gas emitter, pledges to bring its CO2 emissions to a peak around 2030 or even earlier. President Hollande has welcomed the announcement as a sign of China's support and confidence in the Paris climate conference, hoping the positive contribution will boost the negotiations.During talks with President Hollande, Li Keqiang urged the two sides to consolidate cooperation in traditional fields like nuclear energy and aviation while moving to more emerging areas such as finance, digitalization and sustainable development.French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has hailed an array of cooperation deals signed during the day, including one on civil aviation."That's also the case for aeronautics. We are developing a large scale industrial partnership. The agreement we signed a few minutes ago is on the firm sale of 45 A330 Airbus with an optional deal for another 30 aircrafts and another agreement will be signed in Toulouse on Thursday on the creation of an aircraft completion center in Tianjin."Following the talks between the two premiers, China and France issued two joint statements connected to cooperation with third parties and on nuclear power.The two sides have agreed to set up a fund to support their joint cooperation with third parties, as part of bilateral efforts to explore new cooperation areas and help foster a sustainable global economic recovery.Li Keqiang's time in France will also see him travel to the cities of Marseilles and Toulouse and deliver a speech at the headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.China submits new, ambitious climate goals to the UNAnchorThe Chinese government has officially submitted its post-2020 climate change targets document to the UN, in what officials hail as the "utmost effort" in dealing with global environmental challenges.CRI's UN correspondent Su Yi has more.ReporterThe climate action plan, dubbed the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions or INDC, has been submitted to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change based in Bonn, Germany.The world's largest greenhouse gas emitter promises in the document to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent of the 2005 level by 2030.The goal is a big step further from the previous emission control target, which eyes a decrease of 40 to 45 percent of the 2005 level by 2020.China's carbon emissions per unit of GDP last year were over 33 percent lower than the 2005 level.The document says the pledge represents China's utmost efforts in addressing climate change.China's pledge comes ahead of talks late this year in Paris to seek a new global deal on climate change.Speaking at a high-level U.N. meeting on Monday, China's special representative on climate change Xie Zhenhua says the Chinese side hopes the Paris meeting can achieve some solid deals."The agreement to be reached in Paris should follow the principles of justice, common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. It should reflect each country's historical responsibilities, development stages, national conditions and response capabilities."UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has issued a statement, praising China's latest move on fighting climate change along side the submission of an INDC by South Korea.Farhan Haq is a spokesman for the UN."Both submissions represent an important contribution to building momentum and strengthening prospects for reaching a new and meaningful climate change agreement at COP-21 in Paris at the end of the year."Ban Ki-moon has also passed his gratitude to the Chinese President Xi Jinping for his "leadership and strong commitment in addressing climate change".He is now encouraging other countries to accelerate the preparation and submission of their plans.All countries involved in UN climate talks must submit national plans for cutting emissions ahead of the Paris talks. China joins several other countries, including EU members, the US, and Mexico which have already committed their plans.As of Monday, 40 countries of the 196 parties to the convention have submitted their document.For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.France's Areva signs agreements with its Chinese partners, EDF AnchorAnd for more on the nuclear cooperation between China and France, we hear from our reporter Sophie Williams.ReporterThe French nuclear power giant Areva has signed several major agreements with its Chinese partners China National Nuclear Corporation and China Guangdong Nuclear Power and the largest French Power company EDF. According to Areva, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CNNC for a used fuel processing and recycling facility has been signed, marking a new step forward in the Chinese project.Areva says The MOU formalizes the end of technical discussions, defines the schedule for commercial negotiations and confirms the willingness of both groups to finalize the negotiations in the shortest possible timeframe. Another agreement with CNNC enlarging and deepening existing areas of bilateral cooperation covers the entire fuel cycle, Areva says, adding that it covers the extraction and conversion of uranium, fabrication of zirconium fuel assemblies, deconstruction and dismantling, transportation and recycling. French economic analyst Laurence Daziano is lauding the China-France nuclear energy cooperation, saying China has always been a good choice for the French to join hands with."The French nuclear industry is in trouble, actually, and needs financing. And, China is one of the possible partners to invest in our nuclear industry. It's not the only one, and I think the French government has a range of possible companies, or possible partners, to deal with in nuclear energy. But, China is [a] very important one. China is building a lot of nuclear plants on its territory, and there are also possibilities of cooperation."It is noted that Areva's net income has been a loss of some 4,800 million euros in 2014 compared with a loss of nearly 500 million euros in 2013. A closer cooperation with Chinese partners will be favorable for Areva to end its commercial difficulties.The agreement also concerns greater cooperation in research and development. A letter of intent was signed together with CGN and EDF on establishing a long-term partnership in the field of medium- and high-power reactors, which takes into account, in particular, experience feedback from Taishan Phase 1.In the field of reactors, with the support of Areva, EDF and CNNC plan to study, in particular, the possibility of closer cooperation in medium- andhigh-power reactors, particularly in the area of industrial procurement. Daziano says a deeper cooperation and wider exchange is mutually beneficial. "The exchanges are needed. Not only Chinese investment in France, but also French investment in China. China, especially, I was talking about urbanization, China is very good at small cities, at building small cities, and we can also in France learn from it. And, these exchanges is something that is very interesting, and this is, what we most can take about this relation [is that] it's just a win-win relation between our two countries."France and China have a long history of cooperation. The French Republic was the first major power outside Asia to have full diplomatic ties with China. Nuclear cooperation between the nations dates back some 30 years ago. Both Paris and Beijing agreed the France-China comprehensive strategic partnership has entered a new era and brought plenty of benefits to both peoples.For CRI, I'm Sophie WilliamsJapan to enhance surveillance system over disputed islandsThe Japanese government has affirmed a new guideline to enhance its surveillance and guard system over its remote islands, as well as disputed territories with its neighboring countries.Under the new surveillance system, large surveillance vessels will be sent to patrol surrounding areas of the disputed islands and there will be a mechanism of 24-hour aircraft surveillance.The move risks further worsening Japan's ties with its neighbors including China and South Korea.Ties between China and Japan have been strained since 2012 when the Japanese government unilaterally moved to nationalize part of the Diaoyu islands that are the inherent Chinese territory.China has repeatedly made clear that any provocative moves by Japan concerning the Diaoyu Islands are not helpful in resolving the dispute. China's toll roads suffer from huge lossesChina's toll roads have reported further losses due to a sharp rise in loan repayments.The Ministry of Transport released a report Tuesday, saying that turnpikes nationwide posted combined losses of 157 billion yuan in 2014, a huge increase from 66 billion yuan a year ago.Wang Tai, an official with the MOT, attributed the huge spending to the repayment of loans, which accounted for two thirds of the total costs.The official also added that more detailed information about toll roads will be disclosed as the government department is formulating new regulations. "Currently, the MOT is revising the regulation on the management of toll roads. An individual chapter about information disclosure will be added into the regulation. At the same time, the ministry is formulating measures of information disclosure to allow the public to gain access to more detailed information about toll roads. "The MOT has published a guideline to attract private capital into the construction of roads so as to ease a hefty financial burden on the government.Beijing, Shanghai to Offer Tax Refunds to Overseas Tourists Beijing and Shanghai are going to offer tax refunds to overseas tourists from today.Under the new rule, foreign tourists who stay on the Chinese mainland for no more than 183 days can obtain a rebate of 11 percent on their purchases at designated department stores.And the minimum purchase for a tax refund is 500 yuan, or 82 US dollars, in one day.Bai Xiaowei, an official of Shanghai Finance Bureau, says the move will boost tourism in Shanghai."For tourism, this is a favorable policy. It will boost overseas tourists' consumption in Shanghai. Meanwhile, it can facilitate Shanghai to develop into an international shopping paradise. As the city's attraction is accelerating, we can see an growth in the number of foreign tourists."Buyers can choose to be paid the refund in cash or have it transferred to their bank accounts.The rebate will be paid in renminbi.The refund is available on everything except goods which are prohibited from being taken overseas.Tourists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan can enjoy the same rights.The policy follows a trial program introduced in 2011 in Hainan.Operation of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Express Rail PostponedAnchorThe opening of a high-speed railway linking Hong Kong and Guangdong province will be postponed to 2018.Along with the one-year delay, the railway's construction cost is expected to exceed its budget by 20 billion HK dollars.CRI's Niu Honglin has more.ReporterThe Mass Transit Railway Corporation submitted its latest assessment report for the railway project to the Hong Kong SAR government, saying spending will reach 85 billion HK dollars, exceeding the budget by about 30 percent MTR Chief Executive Officer Leong Kwok-kuen explains reasons for the increased budget."There are three reasons behind the overspending: first, the construction period is longer than scheduled; second, it includes unplanned costs such as extra projects caused by geological conditions that we did not expect; third, the construction cost has been increased, including both manpower costs and prices for materials."According to the report, the project will be completed by the third quarter of 2018. Completion of the project, originally planned for 2015, previously had been delayed until 2017.Cheung Bing-leung, head of Hong Kong's Transport and Housing Bureau, says the additional delay is unacceptable."The Highways Department, along with audit consultants, will strictly review the assessment report. The government, I'd like to repeat, the government will not easily accept any revised completion date or increased budget."Cheung says the government will conduct a thorough review of MTR's performance to see if someone should be held accountable for the delay and the deficit.The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link is an important high-speed railway connecting the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.The mainland section between Guangzhou and Shenzhen has been in use since December, 2011.The 26-km long Hong Kong Section, also known as the XRL, will connect West Kowloon in Hong Kong with Shenzhen at a speed of 250km per hour. For CRI, I am Niu Honglin.Greece requests more time to repay IMF: officialThe Greek government has requested more time from International Monetary Fund to repay a 1.6 billion euro loan installment.Athens has already missed the deadline for the loan today.Meanwhile, the debt laden country submitted an updated proposal for a debt deal with international creditors to the new Eurogroup talks scheduled for later today.The chairman of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem says ministers from the group will discuss the suggestion from Greece for a new bailout program. "This afternoon I received a letter from Prime Minister Tsipras, which we discussed tonight in Eurogroup. The letter basically consists of two requests. One was to extend the old programme, to keep that umbrella, and the second one was to start talks about a second programme from the ESM, a different kind of programmeThe proposal which excludes the International Monetary Fund was tabled a few hours before the extended Greek five year bailout expired on Tuesday midnight.The restart of last minute negotiations between the two sides revived hopes that an agreement to unlock further vital aid to Greece could be reached soon. Greece's banks have been closed since Monday and capital controls have been imposed after the European Central Bank froze emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks.Athens has called for a referendum on the lenders' draft deal for the forthcoming Sunday.Iran optimistic of nuclear deal as talks extended to July 7Iran says it's optimistic about reaching a deal with world powers over its nuclear program in the coming days as a deadline for a deal has been extended by a week.Iran the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany originally set a June 30th deadline for a final deal following an interim agreement reached in April.Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says most of the problems have been settled and the remaining significant issues might be solved in the coming days.Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama says it's going to be up to the Iranians to meet the requirements set out by the international community. "If we can't provide assurances that the pathways for Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon are closed and if we can't verify that, if the inspections regime, verifications regime, is inadequate then we're not going to get a deal and we've been very clear to the Iranian government about that."For more than a week, Iran and the P5+1 group have been meeting in Geneva trying to break an impasse in talks.A big sticking point is the world powers' demands that U.N. inspectors have access to Iranian military sites and nuclear scientists.Diplomats say the Vienna talks would run on for as long as necessary to reach a comprehensive deal.That would promise an end to sanctions imposed on Tehran in exchange for at least a decade of limits on Iran's most sensitive nuclear activities.Iran's E-commerce Waits More OpportunitiesAnchorInside Iran, many people have been hoping that opening up to the world market will result in more opportunities for business.Our reporter Huang Shan has the story of a pair of Iranian brothers who established the country's biggest online shopping website.ReporterHamid and Said Mohammadi opened an online shopping website called Digikala with only 10,000 U.S. dollars of savings eight years ago.Hamid Mohammadi gives more detail."Digikala covers 85 to 90 percent of Iran's online retail market share. It is one of the fastest growing Internet enterprises. It is expected to develop to one with hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars within the next three to four years because we have a huge potential market here in Iran."In the beginning, the company sold digital products only.As more and more people started to appreciate the new shopping method, the business gradually expanded to cover various products, including daily necessities, personal care products, appliances, and even perfume.Hamid says the popularity of e-commerce in Iran will keep growing."We have a large number of young clients who are well educated. They warmly welcome the new things that can change their lifestyle. So we believe thate-commerce will be more and more popular in Iran, and the idea has been proved right in the past few years."The brothers believe if online stores can provide good shopping experiences for clients, with reasonable prices and good service, e-commerce in Iran will continue to expand and cover more of the retail sector.Hamid says the company is waiting to see whether the country can remove sanctions and embrace more overseas investment."In the past eight years our growth rate surpassed 200 percent every year, and if there are no sanctions, but more overseas investment, the growth would be faster. For overseas investors, it is also a golden chance."But the brothers also indicate that e-commerce in Iran is still new and immature.More work needs to be done to promote online shopping in the country.For CRI, this is Huang Shan.At least 72 people confirmed dead in Indonesian military plane crashAt least 72 people have been confirmed dead after a military transport plane ploughed into a residential area shortly after take-off in northern Indonesia on Tuesday.The number of victims may well increase as bodies are still being recovered from the crash site.Indonesian Air Marshal Agus Supriatna confirmed a request had been made to return to base prior to the crash."The captain, pilot asked to return to the base after taking off. Such a request means something bad had happened. The crash happened on their way back." He added that 113 passengers and crew were on board the aircraft when the tragedy happened.According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been 10 fatal crashes involving Indonesian military or police aircraft over the past decade.Most of the accidents were attributed to over-long service time.The C-130B Hercules aircraft in question had been in service for more than 50 years.Area quarantined after new Ebola case was found in Liberia Liberian authorities have quarantined two households after the corpse of a17-year-old boy who had been infected with Ebola was found.It is the first recorded case of the disease in Liberia since the country was declared virus-free on May 9th.The boy was buried to avoid spread of the disease.The area where he died is close to Liberia's international airport, about 30 miles south of the capital, Monrovia.Liberia's Deputy Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah says health teams are investigating how he became infected."What we don't know is the whether or not the epi-link and chain of transmission. We also don't know at this stage the source of infection. This is what we are investigating."They are also testing a sick nine-year old boy for Ebola.The area is not near Liberia's borders with Sierra Leone and Guinea, neighboring countries that still have Ebola cases.Liberia had been hardest hit with more than 4,800 deaths out of a total of more than 11,000 fatalities.South Korea MERS toll reaches 33Another patient in South Korea with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) died on Tuesday, bringing the number of fatalities to 33.The victim was an 81-year-old woman who had an existing heart ailment and high blood pressure before being infected.The Director of South Korea's Disease Prevention center Jeong Eun-kyeong says the number of MERS cases has remained at 182 for three straight days. Jeong added that the first reported MERS patient has now tested negative. Data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control shows South Korea has the highest number of infections outside Saudi Arabia.The number of those quarantined reduced from 2,682 on Monday to 2,638 on Tuesday.MERS was first identified in humans three years ago.No cure or vaccine has been discovered so far.WeatherBeijing will be sunny with a high of 33 degrees Celsius.Overnight temperatures should drop down to 18.Shanghai will have showers with a high of 25 and a low of 21.In Chongqing, it will see moderate rain during the daytime with a high of 31 and lows of 24.Elsewhere in the world, staying here in Asia,Kathmandu, slight rain, 29.Islamabad will see slight rain with a high of 36.Kabul will be cloudy with a high of 30.Over to North America,New York will see slight rain with a high of 25 degrees.Washington, cloudy with a high of 30 degrees.Honolulu, slight rain, 26.Toronto will be overcast with a high of 21 degrees.Finally, on to South America,Buenos Aires will have slight rain with a high of 11.And Rio de Janeiro will be cloudy with a high of 27 degrees Celsius.Headline newsPremier meets French leaders, pledges curbs on carbon emissions Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has held separate meetings with French President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and parliamentary leaders on the first day of his four-day visit to France.As France is to host a major UN climate conference at the end of this year, Li Keqiang has made fresh pledges in fighting climate change.He says China will cut carbon emissions by sixty to sixty five percent compared to 2005 and increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to twenty percent.The day also saw China and France sign a series of cooperation deals in fields like nuclear power, aviation, industrial capacity, finance and sustainable development.China completes land reclamation on some Nansha islandsChina has announced that land reclamation on some islands and reefs of the Nansha Islands in the South China Sea has been completed as planned.The Foreign Ministry says work will now start on the building of facilities intended for the islands.The ministry has again made clear that the main purpose of the construction activities is to meet various civilian demands and better perform international obligations and responsibilities, in addition to satisfying the need for necessary military defense.US and Cuba to announce opening of embassies in each other's capitalsThe United States and Cuba are expected to announce the opening of embassies in each other's capitals.US officials say the announcement is scheduled for Wednesday morning Washington time.The move is seen as a major step in re-establishing diplomatic ties that have been severed since 1961 .The US and Cuba agreed to normalize relations at the end of 2014 with the US announcing in May this year that it was removing Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.UN chief calls for more efforts to end violence in SyriaUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the international community should be shamed by the continued suffering of the Syrian people.He made the comment to mark the third anniversary of an agreement aimed at finding a political solution to end the conflict in Syria.More than 220-thousand people are believed to have died in the Syrian conflict since the violence began in March of 2011.Major jail break in Yemen as ground battles intensifyMore than 1,000 prisoners, including al-Qaida suspects, have escaped from a jail in Yemen during clashes between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces in the southern province of Taiz.Officials say the prison held up to 1,200 prisoners, including dozens ofal-Qaida inmates.Witnesses say they saw the prisoners escaping in groups during the clashes and before the Houthi militia withdrew from the area.Biz reportsAnchorFirst, a quick check on the closing numbers across North America and Europe, our reporter Sophie Williams.ReporterU.S. stocks ended mildly higher on Tuesday, a day after their worst session of the year, as investors were assessing the impact of the unfolding Greek debt crisis.The Dow Jones rose 0.1 percent.The S&P 500 increased nearly 0.3 percent.The Nasdaq was up 0.6 percent.On the economic front, the New York-based research group Conference Board said in its monthly survey that U.S. consumer confidence continued to increase in June.The Index rose from 94.6 in May to 101.4 in June, well above market consensus of 97.4.In other markets, oil prices bounced from three-week lows.The U.S. dollar climbed against the Euro Tuesday as the Greek debt situation worsened.The Eurogroup will hold another teleconference on Wednesday morning to discuss new proposals from Greece.Over in Europe, equities declined on news of the Greece situation with the French benchmark index CAC 40 dipping 1.6 percent.British FTSE 100 dropped 1.5 percent.Germany's benchmark DAX index closed down 1.3 percent.The French CAC 40 decreased 1.6 percent.Stocks post biggest gain since 2009 as volatility soarsChinese Stocks surged on Tuesday amid volatility, with the benchmark Shanghai index posting its biggest gain since 2009 after swinging 432 points. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 5.5 percent, marking the largestintra-day swing since 1992.The Shenzhen Component Index rallied 5.7 percent.About 200 stocks jumped by the daily limit, led by financials, mining, and medical companies.The total turnover at the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets reached 1.6 trillion yuan on Tuesday.。
