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This is the Beijing Hour.
Examining the events that impact and shape China and the rest of the world.
This is the Beijing Hour.
One hour of news and information brought to you every weekday.
Now here's your host, Shane Begum with you on this Thursday, February the 20th, 2025.
You're listening to the Beijing Hour, coming to you live from the Chinese capital.
On today's program, the Russian president says troops have retaken territory in Russia's Kursk region that had been occupied by Ukraine.
Hamas has proposed an exchange of all remaining hostages and prisoners for the next phase of the ceasefire with Israel.
And China's gearing up for its annual political meetings known as the Two Sessions.
In business, China's plans to encourage foreign investment in the country.
In sports, setting up the UEFA Champions League Last 16.
in Culture and Entertainment, the stage adaptation of a Hollywood classic in Beijing.
Now checking the day's top stories.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russian forces have crossed into Ukraine from the Kursk region.
He said troops continue to advance along the entire line of contact.
A military officer says Moscow's taken back over 800 square kilometers of land, or roughly 64 percent of the territory initially occupied by kiev russia's army has been pushing back ukrainian forces in the border region following their surprise attack in august ukraine's rejected putin's claim though
a security official said they destroyed a russian reconnaissance and sabotage group that attempted to enter ukrainian territory the public feud between u .s president donald trump and his ukrainian counterpart vladimir Zelensky is worsening.
In his recent remarks, Trump called Zelensky a dictator and urged him to move quickly to secure peace or risk losing his country.
I love Ukraine, but Zelensky has done a terrible job.
His country is shattered and millions and millions of people have unnecessarily died and you can't bring a war to an end if you don't talk to both sides.
You got to talk. They haven't been talking for three years a dictator without elections Zelensky better move fast or he's not going to have a country left got to move got to move fast because that war is going in the wrong direction.
Trump's comments come just a day after he claimed Ukraine was to blame for its conflict with Russia he said Kiev could have had a deal to prevent it and that it had gone into a war that it couldn't be won in response Zelensky warned that any attempt to replace him would fail Unfortunately, President
Trump, with great respect for him as a leader of the people, which we respect very much, the American people who constantly support us, unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.
Our meeting with General Kellogg is scheduled, and it is crucial for us that the meeting and our overall cooperation with America be constructive.
Together with America and Europe, peace can be more secure.
and that is our goal.
And more importantly, this should not only be our goal, but a shared one with our partners.
Zelensky's five -year term of office was due to end in May of last year.
However, elections are suspended as Ukraine's been under martial law since the conflict with Russia began.
Well, meantime, Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the outcome of talks between Russian and U .S.
officials in Riyadh.
Putin also said Ukraine would not be excluded from negotiations to end the ongoing conflict.
His theory is inappropriate.
As far as the negotiation process is concerned, I was told by the president during a telephone conversation that, of course, the United States assumes that the negotiation process will take place with the participation of both Russia and Ukraine.
No one is excluding Ukraine from the process.
The goal and the subject of our talks was to restore Russian -American relations.
If anyone wants to be an intermediary between Russia and the United States, it's probably an excessive demand.
He also said the goal and subject of Tuesday's talks was the restoration of Russia -US relations.
Dasha Chernyshova has more from Moscow.
Assessment at the Kremlin is that those talks in Saudi Arabia have been quite important and And they have served as the first and very important stepping stone into the further reconstruction of bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington and also the further talks on Ukraine.
Now, the Russian president has said that Moscow is willing to return to the negotiating table when it comes to the issue of Ukraine.
He has said Moscow has never rejected those negotiations, stressing once again that it is the European countries and Ukraine that have been refusing to talk to Moscow, as well as the previous administration of joe biden he also has stressed that uh there should be no um hysteria as he described it in kiev
with regards to kiev being left outside the talks between russia and the united states especially in saudi arabia because those talks according to the russian president were primarily about russian -american relations and he stressed that in the further negotiations on Ukraine, Ukraine should be present.
At the same time, what he has said is that increasing the bilateral trust between Russia and the United States could serve as a very important issue when it comes to finding the long -term settlement on the conflict in Ukraine.
And the Russian president, in his interpretation, said that Trump, when came to the Oval Office realized that it was much more complex to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and would take more than just days or weeks, as he has been saying before.
So at this stage, the Russian side is saying that the negotiations on Ukraine should be arranged.
And we understand in Russia and the United States, there will be negotiating teams with chief negotiators from Russia yet to be appointed.
And Moscow will be looking at who will be in the American side.
So in this context, we understand any trust reinforcing measures between Moscow and Washington will be paving the way towards the settlement on Ukraine.
That was Dasha Chernyshova in Moscow.
Media reports say the Trump administration may strike a simplified minerals deal with Ukraine to get a pact in place quickly.
Reuters quoted sources saying details such as how much of Ukraine's vast resources the U .S.
would own would be discuss later.
This follows President Zelensky's rejection last week of a U .S.
proposal giving the U .S.
half of Ukraine's critical minerals, including graphite and lithium.
It's reported that Trump wants a pact with Ukraine in place before authorizing any more U .S.
military support for or moving ahead with formal peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
In the meantime, Europe's reacting to the growing pressures from Washington.
More leaders on the continent are calling for immediate action to support Ukraine following a second emergency security meeting in Paris, which Canada also attended.
After the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron said the position of France and its partners on Ukraine is clear and united.
Swedish Prime Minister Alph Christensen criticized Trump's use of the word dictator, while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Trump's comments absurd.
But the question of deploying troops to Ukraine still hangs in the balance.
As German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, it's too early to talk about it.
EU envoys have also agreed on the 16th package of sanctions against Russia.
Ross Cullen reports from Paris.
Package of sanctions from the European Union announced the 16th such package since February 2022 when Russia launched this full -scale invasion of Ukraine and some of the details of what's in that package of sanctions it's going to be a targeting of the shadow fleet vessels now these are ships which are believed
by europe to be used by russia but they aren't under a russian flag they're not officially registered or acknowledged by russia that they are naval vessels although they are maritime vessels but they are used by europe by russia according to europe to sabotage things such as cables running between different
countries in the baltic sea they are on the receiving end of some of these sanctions also export bans on chemicals and some products used and machines a ban on servicing oil and gas refineries ban on imports of russian aluminium as well and just to note there won't be a ban yet according to the european union on imports of russian lng
but they do want to win themselves off liquefied natural gas coming from russia as soon as possible they would like to start importing huge quantities of lng from the united states and And certainly on a deal front, on a transactional front, that would be something that would be of interest to President
Trump as well. That was Ross Cullen reporting.
To discuss the latest developments in the Russia -Ukraine conflict, Lee Dongning and Zhongshir spoke with Songxin, CEO of Sinvol Consulting and former policy advisor at the European Parliament.
First of all, about the trade of wars between the two leaders, Trump has called Zelensky a dictator.
Well, Zelensky said Trump is being trapped in the Russian disinformation bubble, meaning he's fallen into Russian propaganda.
How much do you read into this rhetoric war?
I think there are two layers.
First of all, of course, this mutual blame actually highlights the growing tension, you know, between Trump and Zelensky.
But there's a second layer, which is more important, which is actually Trump is seeking for a deal, not only with Russia, but also with China and the EU.
So this first step, you know, this kind of verbal fight with Zelensky is just a bargaining chip.
It's just a starting point in order to achieve a bigger deal.
His deal is not only to, you know, make a peace in Europe.
He still is ready to make American great again in order to achieve a most advantageous position for the U .S.
in any sort of, you know, agreement with especially China and the U.
Because he thinks Americans lost a lot of money because of the trade deficit with EU and China.
So I think this is really the starting point for Trump to achieve this big deal with either China or the EU.
You mentioned this pattern with Donald Trump, you know, throwing rhetorics out there, gaining leverage and wanting to achieve a bigger deal here.
But when you hear Trump warning Zelensky to move fast or risk losing Ukraine altogether, is it just rhetorics or is that a serious warning here?
I think, of course, there is a sense of seriousness.
I mean, the war has lasted for three years, and so far we haven't seen any hope of achieving this kind of, you know, peace agreement.
And Trump is right now really doing something to catch in his promise that he made during the campaign election campaign to end up this war in order to save Americans money.
So of course there is this kind of sense of seriousness.
But I think in his mind in order to make peace I mean to end this war it doesn't only need the effort from Russia and Ukraine and it is also effort from the EU and China.
But he doesn't want just to make peace he wants to um you know mitigate it he wants to mingle all this kind of aspect in order to get the biggest actually interest for the united states and that is his final like aim so i mean this is just a one of these bargaining chips how to make a deal in the um
in the ukraine war so but it is not the most important for in his agenda that was song sheen talking about the latest developments in the russia ukraine conflict coming up hamass has made a proposal for phase two of at Ceasefire with Israel.
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13 minutes past the hour.
Hamas has proposed exchanging all remaining Israeli and Palestinian prisoners in one go during the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
Its aim is to reach a permanent truce and full Israeli pullout.
At the same time, Hamas has rejected Israel's call to disarm and leave Gaza.
Israel says negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire deal will happen this week.
Reports say Palestinian armed groups have handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages killed in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war to the International Committee of the Red Cross team.
Another six hostages still alive will be released on Saturday.
Jonathan Regev has the latest from Tel Aviv.
Israel, of course, was happy to have all six hostages returned this Saturday instead of waiting another week.
There's actually a lot of criticism in Israel on the government saying why do Israelis have to wait every time for another week and another week instead of bringing all the people, all the living people at once.
The conditions were known.
Israel was able and ready to release the Palestinian prisoners in much bigger numbers in order to have everybody back together.
Now it seems to finally be happening.
Six hostages, which are the last remaining hostages in the first phase, are meant to be back home on Saturday.
And Israelis are generally very happy with this, as the whole feeling here was that all of the hostages, alive and not alive in the first stage all of them could have been brought back at a much earlier stage now finally now as jonathan regev reporting qatari amir sheikh temen ben hamad al -tani has met
with iranian president massud pazeshkian during his visit to tehran pazeshkian said both nations stressed the need for islamic nations to work together to support the people of gaza qatar together with the u .s and egypt brokered the ceasefire deal last month between Israel and Hamas.
Al -Tani also met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The two countries signed bilateral agreements to expand their collaboration in several fields.
The World Trade Organization's colonist member states to stay calm in the face of uncertainties and remember to uphold the WTO principles and rules.
This comes after China raised the issue of new tariffs imposed by the United States at the WTO General Counsel meeting in Geneva.
In a letter to the new U .S.
Commerce Secretary, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao expressed dissatisfaction with the U .S.
decision to impose additional tariffs on all Chinese goods.
Wang congratulated Howard Lutnick on his appointment but said China hopes to address the concerns through equal dialogue and consultation.
Wang said China is willing to create a fair and predictable policy environment for cooperation between business communities.
Julia Lubova reports.
The General Council of the World Trade Organization has convened for the first time this year in Geneva on the agenda U .S.
tariffs against its trading partners, including China.
China's ambassador to the WTO said that the world is facing a series of tariff shocks.
China said, quote, U .S.
tariffs unilaterally and arbitrarily blatantly violate WTO rules and that China firmly opposes such measures, quote, ends.
The General Council meeting was held behind closed doors in Geneva, but according to the WTO spokesperson, who briefed reporters after the meeting, 32 member states spoke on the issue.
That includes Canada and the EU.
The Trump administration has increased tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, and has threatened reciprocal tariffs against goods from the EU.
The reaction, the tone was pretty constructive, and as I said, the large majority of members really stressed the importance of upholding the WTO principle and rules.
They collectively called for actions to preserve the stability and the effectiveness of the system.
And the DG said that, the director general said that the WTO was exactly created to manage times like this, and she called on members to use the WTO as a platform to find a solution.
The U .S. announced 10 % tariffs on all Chinese imports.
Beijing has already filed a WTO dispute against Washington.
China says that these tariffs, quote, heighten economic uncertainty, disrupt global trade, and risk domestic inflation, market distortion, or even global recession, quote, ends.
The WTO is calling on member states to maintain a cool head in the time of uncertainty, reinforce the importance of the WTO, and remain open to dialogue.
That was Julia Lubova reporting.
U .S. federal workers are protesting the Trump administration's medical research cuts and layoffs at the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D .C.
Benji Heyer reports from Washington.
Yeah, another day of protest action here in Washington, D .C.
At the Department of Health behind me, demonstrators gathered earlier to protest against what could be hundreds of redundancies and potential funding cuts for the National Institutes of Health.
That's after President Donald Trump instructed the NIH to reduce its budget due to what he calls wasteful spending.
Last year, the NIH did hand out grants of up to $35 billion, a huge amount of money, of course, but the scientific community say that cuts of up to 15 % of that could be devastating for the sort of critical research that we're seeing into cancer treatments or pandemic prevention, that's a life -saving
effort also putting the United States at the forefront of biomedical research competing often with the likes of China.
The latest is that 22 state attorneys have tried to bring this battle to court to try to legally stop, pause, prevent the Trump administration's health changes and that has so far been upheld by a judge to has temporarily paused the latest move But this is just one part of the administration's health blitz.
For example, the newly confirmed health secretary, Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., announcing a series of cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He, a vaccine critic, a conspiracy theorist, wants to, in his words, make America healthy again.
This is just one part of a more widespread effort to overhaul the federal government, as we know it.
And it is Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman, the unelected advisor to Donald Trump, who is leading that charge.
And next up in his crosshairs is the Department of Defense.
There could be hundreds of redundancies there.
The Pentagon, of course, the largest government department.
Eyes two for his Department of Government efficiency on the Federal Aviation Administration.
There are being cuts at that department, even though there had been a spate of plane crashes, fatal plane crashes across the United States recently.
And then there's this, the Agriculture Department say they are trying to rehire some individuals that they just recently fired, trying to bring them back in because they were leading the federal government's response to the outbreak of avian flu.
This is not, by the way, something that is just affecting workers here in the nation's capital.
About 80 % of the departments where employees are impacted are happening all across the rest of the country.
Elon Musk is defending his cost -cutting agenda.
He says that this is about trying to restore democracy in the face of bureaucracy.
And he claims that his Doge team is being transparent, putting out all the data.
And that may very well be true, but some keen -eyed social media users have spotted that some of that data is incorrect.
one contract to the tune of eight billion dollars, says Doge, actually turned out to be more like eight million.
Three zeros off the end.
That was Benji Heyer on the latest round of government job cuts in the United States.
Coming up, China's preparing the annual two sessions political meetings.
China has conducted another major asset reshuffle to overhaul its financial sector.
The Ministry of Finance has transferred all of its controlling stakes in the group of financial companies to Central Huijin, a sovereign fund under the state council.
What prompted the reshuffle?
Is it just an asset transfer between different pockets of the central government?
And to what extent will it help to overhaul the country's financial sector?
Find out on this week's Chat Lounge on your favorite podcast platform and CGTN Radio.
At 21 minutes past the hour, China is gearing up for one of the biggest events on its political calendar, the two sessions in the first week of March.
Deputies of the National People's Congress are preparing to deliberate bills that will shape the country's future.
Among them is Joe Bean, a longtime advocate for the development of commercial spaceflight.
China's 2024 government work report officially recognized commercial spaceflight as a new growth engine.
Huang Fei reports from Guangzhou.
One of the fastest -growing frontiers in commercial space is satellite internet, deploying vast constellations of low -Earth orbit satellites to create a global network.
Chief Engineer Zhou Bin is leading the research.
As a deputy of the country's top legislative body, he's pushing for greater policy support, having seen firsthand its impact.
While ground networks like 4G and 5G are highly developed, they still leave many areas uncovered.
Mountains, deserts, oceans, even low -altitude airspace, from a few hundred meters to 3 ,000 meters above ground.
Satellite internet is crucial for today's digital economy.
It powers offshore farms, keeps autonomous vehicles on course and ensure communication in remote areas.
China's mega constellations could see tens of thousands of satellites launched in the coming years.
But production lacks behind demand, costs remain high.
Zhubin's team is working to close that gap.
Here's our terahertz receiver chip, built using CMOP technology for low -cost mass production.
Kharha's waves sit between microwaves and infrared.
They offer high frequency, wide bandwidth, and are safer for humans, making them valuable for biomedical applications as well.
We've completed tape -out testing.
The next step is full -scale production.
Zhoubin's team moved from research near production in just one year.
Progress fueled by strong funding and a deep talent pool.
These researchers are among the brilliant minds behind the Greater Bay Area's growing space industry.
But with the major gap between demand and production capacity, the challenge isn't just scaling up.
It's producing highly reliable satellites at reasonable costs and standing out in a fiercely competitive global market.
And achieving that will require both technological breakthroughs and strategic planning.
China is leveraging its strong manufacturing base an open business environment along the southern coast, with Guangdong aiming to build a 300 billion yuan commercial space sector by 2026, advancing key technologies like reusable heavy lift rockets.
Zhoubin is looking beyond China, targeting markets along the Maritime Silk Road from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and North Africa.
With cutting -edge tech, strategic investment, and a gateway to global markets through Hong Kong and Macau, the Greater Bay area is reaching for the stars.
And that was Huangfei reporting.
Chinese animation Ne Zha 2 has become the highest -grossing animated film of all time and has earned a spot among the top eight highest -grossing films globally.
Zhengtao reports. With over 2 ,000 special effects shots, Ne Zha 2 tells the tale of a baby -faced Chinese god, blending traditional Chinese aesthetics with cutting -edge animation techniques.
The visually stunning effects are the result of five years of hard work from nearly 4 ,000 animators.
The first Nezha film inspired Zhang Ponyu, one of the animators on the Sequel, to learn the trade.
Zhang was tasked with reworking 3D character models and optimizing mesh structures to improve animation quality and production efficiency.
On his first day with the team, the young man worked late into the night, thinking deeply about how to bring the director's vision to life.
Every character, every element required a lot of careful work.
In one scene alone, over 200 million characters appear in a single frame, each one individually modeled and animated.
Each character went through countless revisions.
I remember adjusting every hair and every rock, ensuring everything was flawless.
Jung's work was part of a massive effort.
As animator Chen Junyu explains, the process was grueling.
There were some months when we worked on just one shot, day after day, not even knowing exactly what the director wanted.
It felt like we were stuck in an endless cycle of feedback.
One of the most challenging sequences in Nezha 2 was the heart -piercing curse, a 10 -second moment inspired by Nezha's legendary self -sacrifice.
The director envisioned it to be not only visually striking, but also a symbol of Nezha's defiance.
The team created over 600 individual model pieces for the scene, spending a year modeling, coloring, and rendering each one to perfection.
The film, which draws inspiration from a 16th century Chinese mythological novel, touches on themes of family, friendship, and societal marginalization.
Critic Liang Zhou believes the film's success stems not only from its stunning visuals but from its innovative cultural narrative.
The film goes beyond just retelling myths.
It explores the human emotions behind these stories, blending traditional characters with modern challenges.
For instance, the character Aorun, traditionally depicted as male, was reimagined with a fresh perspective, carrying the weight of a thousand -year -old legacy while introducing a rare form of explosive femininity on screen.
For animator Zhang Pengyu, the long hours and grueling revisions were worth it when he saw his name on the big screen.
I never thought I would see my work on the big screen, but when I saw it on 4K displays and experienced an audience reaction, I realized it was all worth it.
Every movie has some told stories, and for Nezha too, its true success lies not only in its breathtaking visuals, but in the cultural richness it offers.
The huge success of the film represents a new and significant chapter in Chinese cinematic storytelling.
For the Beijing Hour, this is Jiang Tao.
28 past the hour. Beijing down to minus 5 Thursday evening.
It'll be sunny and plus 3 on Friday.
Nancheng's at 6 overnight, then a slight rainfall in 10 degrees.
Elsewhere in Asia up, Islamabad's 8 overnight.
It's overcast in 19 tomorrow.
Bientiane's at 20 overnight, then cloudy conditions in 30 on Friday.
today. It's time for a short break.
So far this hour, the Russian president says troops have retaken territory in the Kursk region that had been occupied by Ukraine.
Hamas has proposed an exchange of all remaining hostages and prisoners for the next phase of the ceasefire with Israel, and China's gearing up for the annual political meetings known as the two sessions.
Shane Bigham with you.
Stay with us here on The Beijing Out.
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Bing -ang. examining the events that impact and shape china and the rest of the world this is the beijing hour one hour of news and information brought to you every weekday now here's your hope bicham with you on this thursday still to come in business china's plans to encourage foreign investment in the country
in sports setting up the uefa champions league last 16 in culture and entertainment the stage adaptation for a hollywood classic in beijing to contact us you can email radio at cgtn .com or follow our ex -account at cgtm radio.
First of all, though, check in the day's headline news.
China's Commerce Ministry says there are more than 1 .2 million foreign -invested enterprises in the country by the end of last year, with actual use of foreign investment exceeding 20 trillion yuan.
The ministry says an action plan on stabilizing foreign investment, released on Wednesday, delivered a signal of China's further opening up.
It also aims to increase supportive policies and address the concerns of foreign invested companies to help them find their footing in China.
The action plan shows that China will launch more pilot programs for expanding opening up in the telecom medicine and education sectors.
In the meantime, the commerce minister has expressed dissatisfaction with the United States' decision to impose additional tariffs on all Chinese goods, writing so in a letter to the U .S.
Secretary of Commerce.
Wang Wentao congratulated Howard Lutnick on his appointment, but said China hopes to address concerns through equal dialogue and consultation.
Wang said China is willing to create a fair and predictable policy environment for cooperation between business communities.
Hundreds of Chinese workers are heading home after being returned from online scam centers in Myanmar.
On Thursday, two buses delivered the first group of workers from Myanmar to an airport in Thailand.
The workers boarded a China Southern Airlines plane and arrived in the eastern city of Nanjing later in the day.
Criminals trafficked them and forced them to work, running internet scams, swindling people around the world.
Meantime, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson says that combating online gambling and telecom fraud crimes is an inevitable choice to safeguard the common interests of regional countries, and it's in line with the shared expectations of people from all nations.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters will visit China next week.
That visit runs from Tuesday to Thursday.
He'll exchange views with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on bilateral relations and issues of common concern.
This is Peter's first visit to China since he took office as the New Zealand Foreign Minister in 2023.
The first commercial flight linking Shizang and Hong Kong has started operation.
The flight runs twice per week on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Authorities say the new route supports the openness of Shizung, also known as Tibet, and boosts its cultural and tourism industries.
They add that the route strengthens ties between Shizung and the Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Greater Bay Area.
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russian forces have crossed into Ukraine from the Kursk region.
He said troops continue to advance along the entire line of contact.
A military officer says Moscow has taken back over 800 square kilometers of land or roughly 64 percent of the territory initially occupied by Kiev.
Russia's army has been pushing back Ukrainian forces in the border region following their surprise attack back in August.
But Ukraine's rejected Putin's claim.
A security official said they destroyed a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group that attempted to enter Ukrainian territory.
Palestinian armed groups have handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages killed in Gaza to a team of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Israel will free Palestinian women and minors held in Israeli jails in exchange for the return of the bodies.
The exchange is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement that took effect last month.
A new poll shows that American confidence in air transportation has slipped a little from last year, though most adults continue to believe that air travel is generally safe.
Amelia Thompson DeVoe with the Associated Press says the faith in the government's ability to ensure safe air travel dipped as well.
That's according to a new AP NORC poll, which found that 64 percent of U .S.
adults say plane travel is very or somewhat safe.
That's down slightly from last year when 71 percent said that.
About two in 10 adults now say air travel is very or somewhat unsafe, which is up from 12 percent in 2024.
The poll was conducted shortly after the January 30th crash between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter in Washington, but before a Delta jet flipped on its roof while landing in Toronto.
The Washington collision killed all 67 people aboard the aircraft.
It was the country's deadliest aviation disaster since 2001.
The poll also found that U .S.
public confidence in pilots and commercial airlines remains unchanged.
Around 8 in 10 U .S.
adults have a high level of confidence in pilots and about three quarters say they have that in commercial airlines.
Boat traffic between Goma and Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resumed after days of suspension because of fighting between the army and M -23 rebels.
Small boats and ferries on Lake Kivu serve as the primary means of transportation for people and cargo in the eastern region.
M -23 claims it's captured both cities.
The DRC government confirmed the group's presence in Bukavu.
Sources from the Congolese presidency in Chad say the DRC's asked Chad for military support.
This is Shane Bingham in the Chinese Capital.
Coming up in business, China's plans to encourage foreign investment in the country.
The Beijing Hour, your window on China and the rest of the world.
36 past the hour. And with business now, here's Wang Ziheng.
Thank you, Shane. Stock markets on the Chinese mainland closed mixed on Thursday.
The Shanghai Composite was down slightly, while the Shenzhen component gained 0 .2%.
The medical services and the home appliance sectors were among the top gainers.
Elsewhere in China, the Hong Kong stock market ended lower for the day, with the Hang Seng Index steeping over 1 .6%.
Over to Japan, the Nikkei Stock Index shed more than 1 .2%.
China has announced that it will further advance its high -level opening up policy this year, with the focus on stabilizing foreign investment.
This follows the release of an action plan aimed at stabilizing foreign investment in 2025.
Dai Kai -yi has details.
China is stepping up its efforts to attract foreign investment and further opening up with its new action plan.
Officials believe that this new action plan actually stated China's commitment and it shows as a strong signal for its commitment to further opening up.
Actually, the government is set to further expand market access in key sectors like telecoms, healthcare, as well as education, and will also reduce the restrictions in some of the foreign investment market access in the manufacturing sector.
It will also lift the limits on foreign invested companies using domestic loans.
The officials here also pointed out that the plan clearly requires that all measures and policies stated will be implemented and effective by the end of 2025.
And that also shows the country's confidence and determination to provide a better and more favorable condition for foreign invested companies here in China.
And of course, the goal here is to make the country an even more appealing destination for global capital.
So official data shows that at the end of 2024, foreign investors set up over 1 .2 million businesses here in China with total actual foreign investment totaling more than 20 .6 trillion yuan or 2 .6 trillion U .S.
dollars. And these new measures announced they are actually built on the previous 24 pro foreign investment measures unveiled by the state council.
So by attracting foreign investment in businesses, China has actually brought in funding, advanced technologies, as well as management experiences.
And officials here also said that foreign businesses have been a witness to, a contributor to, as well as a beneficiary of China's reform and opening up over the past decades.
They said that this new action plan is focused on addressing some of the practical concerns of foreign invested companies here in China, making sure that they will continue to share in the company's growth opportunities.
There was Dai Kai -yi reporting.
Now for more on China's high -level opening up drive, Lincoln Humphries earlier spoke with Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The State Council has vowed to stabilise foreign investment this year.
Could you tell us why this is significant?
Yes, we can find that they have sent a very clear signal that China is trying to do the institutional opening up.
I think that is a very interesting term.
We were discussing about the meaning.
I think that there are two characteristics.
The first one is that we are trying to give the more fairness treatment for those companies coming from other countries.
We know that national treatment is one of the fundamental principles of WTO, So we are not treating the foreign companies different compared with domestic ones.
And the second is that when we are going to open our market, it's not only about to just reduce the market access barriers.
We are trying to make it even more attractive by using the better, you know, the domestic market.
Because the depth and also the scale of the market is very huge.
So we want to give them enough assurance that they can come here and benefit by the investment and cooperation with Chinese counterparts.
So we are trying to give them more priorities in the areas like the telecommunications, the education and also some of the medical related industries.
I think that is really attractive because all these areas are very sensitive and critical in the development of the economy and they will benefit a lot of stakeholders from other countries.
That's a great overall look at things, but what specific tangible steps are planned to stabilise foreign investment?
Well, we know that the world is under uncertainty.
There are so many reconstructions of the supply chain and industrial corporations.
So China is providing a very stable environment, like we have better integration by the different regions in China.
We are going to protect the benefits of the companies and trying to give them more freedom on the allocating of the resources, including the capital, the talents, and also some of the intellectual property -related rights.
I think that is a definitely one of the priorities that if they are going to look at one of the last largest single market in the world and with the attitudes of opening up, it is only China.
So they can come here.
And on the other hand, I would agree that Chinese government is trying to encourage the innovation.
And you can find many of the private sectors here in China are so attractive in the innovative way of development.
so if the foreign companies come here they can also benefit by those policies and they will have a fair treatment on the government procurement and cooperate with Chinese counterparts to strengthen the supply chains in the ecosystem of the innovation.
I think that is very attractive.
There was senior research fellow Zhou Mi at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The Commerce Ministry says China is the world's second largest consumer market and its market size is steadily expanding.
The ministry says the Chinese market maintains strong attraction for foreign investment, with the overall number of foreign enterprises investing in the country continuing to increase.
Official statistics show that as of the end of 2023, the number of existing foreign -invested enterprises in China was 465 ,000, an increase of 46 ,000 compared to 2019.
In 2024, China established 59 ,000 new foreign -invested enterprises, an increase of nearly 10%.
China has held its one -year loan prime rate at 3 .1%, unchanged from the previous month.
The over -five -year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remains unchanged from the previous reading of 3 .6%.
Analysts say keeping the LPR steady helps stabilize the RMB exchange rate and mitigates interest rate risks.
Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer XPeng is actively promoting its latest model while increasing investment in Ireland.
The G6 Coupe can accelerate from 0 to 100 km per hour in just 6 .7 seconds and offers a range of 570 km on a single charge.
It is also equipped with advanced AI technology for autonomous driving.
Xpeng brand manager Alan Furlong says people are exploring the new model and placing orders.
We've actually called for more stock.
We had orders put in last week because of the volume that we sold over the last week.
So one week opens, the weekend we sold 12 Xpengs and now we've more cars on order and they're on their way from China as we speak.
So it's really good times for Xpeng in Ireland.
EV expert Derek Riley says Chinese these electric vehicle manufacturers are still able to supply competitively priced vehicles despite the European Union's EV tariffs.
Tariffs people are just looking, is it good value?
Is it the vehicle itself, has the range, has the size, can I fit the kids in it?
Can the dog fit in the boot?
Now it's CPUs this and IAI that and voice assistant.
And the Chinese cars just have it all and the European manufacturers are kind of playing catch up to all of that kind of what consumers are actually looking for.
tariffs are driving more innovation, but also I think the Chinese manufacturers have optimised real lean manufacturing.
Xpeng is trying to increase its competitiveness by offering better technology such as the G6 Coupe's AI -powered autonomous driving capabilities at a lower price.
The Serbian president has underscored the country's growing tourism potential and strengthening ties with international partners, particularly China.
Alexandre Vucic made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 46th International Tourism Fair in Belgrade.
Government officials, industry representatives and domestic and international exhibitors are attending the largest tourism event in Southeast Europe.
Vucic said the country's biggest success has been in attracting Asian tourists, particularly Chinese visitors, especially in December and January.
Over the past decade, tourist arrivals in Serbia have more than doubled from $2 million to $4 .4 million, while tourist revenue has also nearly quadrupled.
Official data shows more than 157 ,000 Chinese tourists visited Serbia in 2024, marking a 70 percent increase from the previous year.
Vucic also stressed the importance of Expo 2027 in Belgrade as a key driver for the country's tourism growth.
The specialized exhibition is said to host over 130 countries.
China has recently confirmed its participation.
Vietnam's National Assembly has approved investment for a railway project connecting the capital Hanoi with the major port city of Haiphong and Laogai near the border with China.
According to the Vietnamese government, the main railway line will stretch approximately 390 kilometers, with three branch lines totaling about 28 kilometers.
The railway will pass through several provinces and cities.
The project is worth about US $8 .4 billion and it will connect the railways of Vietnam and China.
And finally, Jiangsu province ranked first in China's national electricity market in 2024, exceeding 470 billion kilowatt -hours.
According to the Jiangsu Power Exchange Center, green electricity trading exceeded 12 billion kilowatt -hours for the first time in the eastern province last year, an increase of over 140%.
This is the equivalent to reducing coal consumption by over 3 .8 million metric tons and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 10 million metric tons.
Thank you very much.
That was Wang Ziheng with Business.
You're listening to The Beijing Hour.
Coming up in sports, setting up the UEFA Champions League last 16.
The 2025 NBA All -Star Game made headlines, but not for the reasons the league hoped.
Despite bold changes to the game format, viewership hit the second lowest in history, sparking heated debates about events' excitement.
Is the All -Star Weekend losing its luster?
How can the league reignite fan passion?
Tune in to Sidelight Story as we dive deep into these pressing questions in our latest episode.
Listen to Sidelight Story wherever you get your podcasts.
We're at 48 past the hour.
Turning to sports now, here's Yang Guang.
Thank you, Shane. Hat -trick as Real Madrid eased into the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.
The La Liga champions won 3 -1 over Manchester City, securing a 6 -3 aggregate after last week's 3 -2 victory.
Head coach Carlo Ancelotti hailed his team's performance.
I think that we replicated all the good things that we did in the first leg.
It was a complete match in all aspects, offensively, defensively, with or without the ball.
The team worked very well without the ball.
And when that happens, our quality is quite high.
And we have offensive chances that we never had in the past few years.
Manchester City defender Nathan Aki admitted Mbappe was unstoppable.
Well, this game he was, yes.
This game he was very good.
Obviously, he's a top player.
All the front three, four, they're top players.
And this game, we didn't contain them well.
Last game, Ida, I think a bit better.
But over the two games, they were just better than us.
And we have to accept that and, you know, get better and look forward.
City striker Erling Haaland stayed on the bench with a knee injury.
Also on Wednesday, PSV Eindhoven backed a 3 -1 extra -time victory over Juventus.
The Dutch champions overturned a one -goal deficit from the first leg to advance to the last 16 with a 4 -3 aggregate win.
Borussia Dortmund played a goalies draw against the sporting Lisbon at home, advancing to the next stage thanks to their 3 -0 away victory last week.
Paris Saint -Germain also secured their place in the next stage out of the competition, following a 7 -0 victory over Brast.
The win came as no surprise as BSG won 3 -0 in the first leg.
Bayern Munich, Feyenoord, Club Rouge and Benfica entered the last 16 with wins on Tuesday.
Earlier, the top eight sides from the league phase qualified automatically.
They include Arsenal, Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Leverkusen, Lille and Liverpool.
The winners of the eight knockout phase playoff ties now join them in the round of 16.
A final draw will take place on Friday in Switzerland.
In the English Premier League, Liverpool has stretched its lead to 8 points following a 2 -0 draw at Aston Villa.
Mohamed Salah scored one goal early in the match and set up the equaliser by Trent Alexander -Arnold in the second half.
Liverpool has now played a game more than second placed Arsenal which appears to be the only other realistic challenger of the title.
It has another tough away game on Sunday at Manchester City.
Liverpool is seeking a 20th top -flight championship to tie the record of Manchester United.
In Asian football, Yokohama Moreno's closed out league phase of the EFC champions with a 2 -0 win over Shanghai Port on Wednesday.
Despite the last Shanghai port, we still progress to the last 16, as a result of the withdrawal of Shandong Taishan from the competition earlier in the day.
Another Chinese Super League side, Shanghai Shenhua, moved into the qualifying places of the AFC Champions League elite on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia has secured the spot in the AFC U -20 Asian Cup quarterfinals after coming from behind to beat North Korea 2 -1 in its final Group B match in Shenzhen.
Saudi Arabia advanced into the final eight as group winner while Iraq, who finished a goalie's draw with Jordan, scored second place.
Saudi Arabia will meet host China in the quarterfinal while Iraq will play Australia.
In basketball, the Shanghai Sharks has promoted Lu Wei to full -time head coach of the Chinese Basketball Association outfits.
Lu played for multiple CBA teams across a 15 -year professional career.
He became assistant coach of the Shanghai club in June 2023, before taking over as interim head coach last November.
He helped the Sharks shine at the inaugural CBA Club Cup, winning all four group games and securing the title with consecutive knockout round victories.
The team posted a 19 -3 record in the CBA regular season's second stage, riding on a 16 -game winning streak.
In tennis, top seed Carlos Ekeriz had to dig deep to overcome Luka Nadi and the Qatar Open in Doha on Wednesday, eventually beating the world No.
85 in three cents. Ekeriz will meet Jiri Lehejka in the quarterfinals.
The new Medvedev skilled a 6 -2, 6 -1 victory over Zizu Berks, the 2023 Qatar Open champion will face Felix Oshialiasiem in the last eight.
Second seed Alex Dermineau beat Bottice van de Sandschop 64 -64.
They may now finish the run -up to Carlos Elcris at this month's Rotterdam Open.
He will next take on fifth seed André Rublev.
And finally in ice hockey, Canada is looking to shock a packed TD garden in Boston on Thursday when they face the USA in the Four Nations face -off championship game.
Canada's Sydney Crosby spoke ahead of the game.
I would say a lot. I think we're a pretty hockey -proud country.
I think that people have a lot of pride and hopefully we're a team that's represented that well at this point.
Hopefully we can go out there and find a way to win it for them.
The USA beat Canada 3 -1 in a fight field preliminary round matchup last week in Montreal.
The four nations face -off replaced NHL all -star game this season.
Finland and Sweden are the two other nations in the tournament.
Thank you very much.
That was Yang Guang with sports.
It's coming up in culture and entertainment, the stage adaptation of a Hollywood classic in Beijing.
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A 54 past now turning to culture and entertainment.
A stage adaptation of classic film, Singing in the Rain, is running at the Beijing Performing Arts Center till next Thursday.
Beijing's the show's only stop in China.
It was set during the transition to talkies in the 1920s.
Singing in the Rain follows Don Lockwood, a silent movie star who's caught in the whirlwind of this technological revolution.
The musical was first staged in London's West End back in 1983.
A revival in 2012 led to four Laurence Olivier Award nominations paying tribute to the much -loved film.
The musical's director, Jonathan Church, said what made the production so acclaimed was its innovative on -stage rain effects, music as the thread that connects the entire production.
Music director Robert Scott said they want the audience to experience the romance and joy of that golden age.
So, when adapting the piece, they were faithful to the original film.
A Chinese animated blockbuster Ne Jiao 2 premiered Wednesday night in Macau, with wider release expected across Macau and Hong Kong starting Saturday.
Since its Spring Festival debut, Ne Jiao 2 has smashed box office records, grossing over $12 .5 billion yuan, roughly $1 .7 billion U .S.
dollars, and making it the highest -grossing animated film of all time.
The film's run will extend till March 30th.
Yang Yan has more. Nejia -tu is the result of the hard work and creativity of nearly 140 teams and over 4 ,000 animators nationwide, raising the bar for Chinese animated films.
The film retains the comedic tone of its predecessor, but also expounds upon it significantly, featuring three times as many characters and surpassing the total number of special effects shots from the first Nezha.
By integrating traditional Chinese elements like martial arts and opera into its action sequences, the film showcases cultural confidence through storytelling and visual artistry, achieving an innovative expression of Eastern aesthetics.
Internationally, Nejia 2 has been a hit.
On its opening day in North America, theaters were packed, prompting some Los Angeles cinemas to add midnight screenings.
The film also performed strongly in markets in like Australia and New Zealand, with overseas box office earnings exceeding 10 million U .S.
dollars. Young Yan reporting.
Zachary Levi and Peter Fassanelli helmed the red carpet Wednesday for the New York premiere of The Unbreakable Boy.
Inspired by a true story, the film follows Austin, a young boy with autism and a brittle bone disease.
Levi and Megan Fahey portray his parents, Scott and Teresa.
The film got off the ground thanks to actor Peter Fassanelli's brother -in -law who met Austin's father, Scott Lorette, at the New York City pharmacy that he owns.
The film's based on Lorette's memoir.
Written for the screen and directed by Joe Gunn, the film also stars Jacob LaValle as Austin.
The Unbreakable Boy opens in theaters on Friday.
Egypt has identified the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II on a mountain region west of Luxor.
It is the last lost royal tomb of the kings of the 18th dynasty.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said it marks the first discovery of its kind since King Tutankhamun's tomb was unearthed back in 1922.
A joint Egyptian -British archaeological mission is making ongoing excavations at the site to unveil treasures of egypt's ancient civilization we're at 58 minutes past the hour beijing's down to minus five thursday evening it'll be sunny and plus three on friday nansheng's at six overnight then a slight
rainfall and 10 degrees elsewhere in asia islamabad's at eight tonight it's overcast to 19 degrees on Friday.
Vientiane's down to 20, then cloudy conditions in 30 degrees.
Phnom Penh's 23 overnight, a slight rainfall in 33 tomorrow.
In Africa, Nairobi's sunny and 33 on Friday.
Kampala's at 21 overnight, then a slight rainfall in 28 degrees.
Juba's down to 25, then overcast conditions in 41 degrees Celsius.
And finally to Oceania, Port Vila's 23 this evening, then a slight rainfall in 31.
Appeal will see heavy rains on Friday, The high is 29 degrees Celsius.
That's it for this edition of the Beijing Hour.
Making news today, the Russian president says troops have retaken territory in Russia's Kursk region that had been occupied by Ukraine.
Hamas has proposed an exchange of all remaining hostages and prisoners for the next phase of its ceasefire with Israel.
On behalf of the staff, this is Shane Begum in the Chinese capital.
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