新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/02/16（打印版）

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

The Chinese Foreign Ministry is urging dialogue for solving Iran's nuclear program issues, not sanctions...

train stations have been packed in Beijing and in many other major Chinese cities, as millions head to their home towns for the Spring Festival holiday...

and the Egyptian airforce has bombed Islamic State targets in neighbouring Libya...

In Business...cheaper financial services from foreign banks in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone...

In Sports...the expected impact of the 2022 Winter Olympics, if Beijing wins the bid...

In Entertainment...a documentary about China has garnered huge ratings in South Korea...

Beijing will be clear tonight, with a low of minus 2. It will be sunny tomorrow, with a high of 12 degrees.

Meanwhile Shanghai will be clear tonight, with a low of 6, tomorrow sunny, with a high of 14.

Chongqing will be cloudy tonight, 13 degrees the lowest, tomorrow it will be cloudy too with a high of 20.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has stated that Iran's nuclear issue should be resolved through negotiations instead of sanctions.

The minister made the appeal on Sunday during his first official visit to Iran.

"We have always been committed to these talks and have actively participated in the discussions, calling for the peaceful resolution of the issues. We have always believed that the issue should only be settled through negotiations and are opposed to the military option and unilateral sanctions against Iran."

China is a member of a six-nation group known as the P5+1 who are engaging in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.

For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamamd Javad Zarif says Iran is ready to be flexible in the talks.

"We are ready to show the necessary flexibility in order to build confidence among the members of the P5+1 group. What is important is that the Western members of the Group, particularly the United States, become convinced that the era of sanctions has come to an end."

The P5+1 is made up of the US, Britain, France, China, Russia, and Germany.

The group hopes to reach a broad outline of a deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme by March and a final agreement by June 30.

Iran is the Chinese Foreign Minister's third and last stop after he visited Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates over the last few days.

Foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland jumped nearly 30 percent in January from a year earlier, settling at nearly 14 billion U.S. dollars.

The Ministry of Commerce says the pace of growth quickened from a 1.7-percent increase last year, as investment in the service industry continued to grow.

A total of 9.2 billion dollars, around two thirds of the FDI, went into China's service sector last month.

Foreign direct investment into the manufacturing sector reached 4 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for a quarter percent of the total.

The airstrikes come a day after the IS group released a video purporting to show the beheading of 21 Egyptians in the neighboring country.

Speaking on national television hours after the release of the video on Sunday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt would choose the "necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings."

"Egypt reserves the right of retaliation, and with the methods and timing it sees fit for retribution from those murderers and criminals who are without the slightest humanity."

A statement from Egypt's military says air strikes were conducted against IS camps, places of gathering and training, and weapons depots.

It also says the strikes are in accordance with decisions by Egypt's National Defense Council, and the right of the nation to defend its people against criminal acts committed by terrorists inside or outside the country.

It's reported that Egypt carried out the air raids at the request of the Libyan government, with several more airstrikes will follow.

Egypt's president has declared seven days of mourning over the deaths of the 21 citizens.

Tens of thousands of people flocked to train stations in the Chinese capital today as they make their way home for family get-togethers, celebrating the upcoming Lunar New Year.

The scene has been repeated in major cities across the country as the world's largest annual human migration continues, in full swing.

Rail officials in Shanghai expect nearly 400 thousand passengers to board trains today at the city's three railway stations. And before the holiday begins on Wednesday, more than 10 million rail journeys are expected to have originated in the city.

Zhengzhou Railway Station, the biggest rail transfer hub in China, saw more than 150 thousand trips during the day, an increase of 30 percent from last year.

Buying tickets often proves tough, with passengers at the station saying that even buying tickets online has become much harder.

"I got this ticket from someone who had returned it and I managed to get it. Train tickets usually sell out within two minutes of going on sale. After a couple of weeks some return their tickets and we can buy those."

"Buying tickets is really hard! I had to refresh the website for a week before I managed to buy them."

In China, many people work in big cities, and many of them are far from their home towns; the week-long "Spring Festival" holiday is the only time many of them will have for seeing their families this year.

Crowds of people dragging suitcases and holding bags thronged Beijing Railway Station as they rushed to get on trains.

Sun Yuanbin, a 23-year-old student, will spend around 26 hours traveling to get back to his home town in northeastern Jilin Province.

"After all, Spring Festival is a traditional festival in our country. When people who are working in different places across the country come to train stations and see the trains that will take them back to their home towns, they will be very excited. Although we only get hard-seat tickets to stay overnight on, we still feel very happy."

Xie Jingyi, spokesman for Beijing railway station, says ensuring the safety and smooth operation of passenger trips is now their top concern.

"After the middle of January, we are all focusing on Passenger Services, which includes entering stations, checking tickets, crowd control. When it comes to the safety issue, you can see that we've improved our security process."

Extra security has also been put outside Shanghai Railway Station. Armed police, emergency communications trucks and temporary police units have been stationed outside the main entrance and over 300 military police and volunteers have been pulled in to help during the busy period.

Japanese tourism sectors well-prepared to welcome Chinese tourists over Spring Festival holiday

Officials in Japan's tourism sector say they are prepared to welcome more Chinese tourists over the Spring Festival holiday, as more-and-more Chinese people choose to travel overseas to celebrate the festival.

Many regions in Japan like Osaka and Hokkaido, among others, are planning to hold Chinese New Year themed activities to attract Chinese tourists.

In 2014, over 2.4 million Chinese people visited the country, an increase of 83 percent compared with 2013.

"I think this number is quite normal, because currently Chinese people make about one hundred million overseas trips each year. The Chinese market is very dynamic, with large potential. So it is not surprising to see more Chinese tourists traveling here to Japan."

Analysts show that depreciation of the Japanese yen and the expanded varieties of Japan's duty-free goods contributed to the increase of Chinese tourists.

In recent years, Japanese tourism sectors have been very active in attracting Chinese tourists during long holidays like National Day and Spring Festival.

Many department stores, restaurants, and major amusement parks are launching promotional policies that are specially targeting the Chinese market.

In 2014, the total spending of foreign tourists in Japan hit two trillion yen, or 17 billion US dollars, becoming a strong support for the country's shrinking domestic demand.

Su Rong, former vice chairman of China's top political advisory body, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office following an internal graft investigation.

The country's discipline watchdog has announced that Su "violated organizational and personnel disciplines and took the liberty to change official decisions, sought profits for others and accepted huge bribes in selection of officials and in enterprise management by taking advantage of his post."

The CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection says Su abused his power and caused "great losses" to state assets, failed to take due responsibility for promoting clean governance and was accountable for serious corruption in east China's Jiangxi Province, where he was Party chief between 2007 and 2013.

Organizers preparing to convince the International Olympic Committee that Beijing and Zhangjiakou is the right choice to host the 2022 Winter Olympics contend their bid is virtually ready to go.

After hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008, China is fully prepared for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, and ready to make it a success.

Wang Hui, deputy secretary general at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bidding Committee, believes winning the bid would expand the development of winter games across the whole country.

"The wish of our people is the first reason as to why we decided to bid. Second I think it's very beneficial to develop winter sports in China. In the north east part of china winter sports has a very long and well developed tradition, now our commit is to expand that tradition down south and east and west."

Indeed, more and more people are engaging in winter sports in China. In Beijing alone there are over one thousand ice hockey teams among primary school children. In Zhangjiakou there is already a skiing venue in place, and the sport has really picked up over the years.

Three zones are planned for the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing zone, Zhangjiakou zone and the Yangqing zone, an area in Beijing's suburb.

Luo Lie from Yanqing Operation Centre of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, explains what events would be held in each zone.

"The ice sports will be held in Beijing, the Yanqing zone will have sliding events as well as alpine skiing events. And all the other winter sports events will be held in the Zhangjiakou zone."

If China was to win the bid for the 2022 Winter Games, the famous Birds Nest in Beijing would be used for the opening and closing ceremonies, and skating events.

Wang Hui adds that not much is needed, but another ski venue in Yanqing and a high speed rail would be built.

"We only need to build one massive scale ski track venue. Also in terms of infrastructure, we are planning to build a high speed rail between Zhangjiakou and Beijing which would shorten the distance to about 50 minutes. "

Wang Zhijun, a deputy division chief at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bidding Committee, is confident China will win the bid, and believes it would help the development of the areas hosting the events.

"It will definitely be a driver for economic and social development, as well as improvement in infrastructure. It will also make our people happier, and further more I think it's important that it will help the joint development of Yanqing, Beijing and Heibei Province."

In March, the International Olympic Committee will head to Beijing and Zhangjiakou for inspection. Then on July 31st in Kuala Lumpur, the decision as to who will host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be made at the IOC assembly.

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution on Yemen, demanding that Shiite Houthi group dissolve parliament and engage in UN-led peace talks.

The resolution is co-sponsored by 10 countries including China, the United States, and Saudi Arabia.

"Today, we have made clear that those who use violence and intimidation to try to dictate Yemen's future are undermining the security of all Yemeni citizens and are eroding the political progress made since 2011."

The Houthi group has taken over Yemen's central government and nearly half its provinces.

Yemen's President and Prime Minister each submitted resignations last month.

The United States and several other countries have closed embassies in Yemen because the security situation has deteriorated.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that Yemen is "collapsing before our eyes."

Three hundred and twenty military personnel from the United States, Thailand, and Japan took part in a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation on Sunday.

The drill, led by the United States, was conducted at a navy air base in eastern Thailand as part of Cobra Gold, the biggest joint military exercise in Asia-Pacific. Personnel responded to a made-up scenario which involved treating injured and evacuating people after a natural disaster occurred.

U.S. mission commander Captain Hector Contreras explains the importance of running the drills.

"First of all, in a region where humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, happens quite often, it is good to have nations that we're friendly with, that we're partnered with, that we can come together, a stronger response that can quickly service this portion of the world."

Cobra Gold has been held annually in Thailand for more than three decades, but the United States scaled the drill back this year after sanctioning Bangkok for last year's coup.

More than 1,000 Singaporeans have attended a public memorial for those who died during the Japanese Occupation in World War II.

War veterans, politicians, and families of the war victims gathered in the heart of Singapore to attend the event.

"My dad was killed by Japanese troops. Japan should recognize the history, the painful history. They have to reflect on themselves."

The Japanese captured Singapore on February 15, 1942, and occupied it for over three and a half years.

More than 25-thousand Singaporeans were estimated to have been killed during the occupation.

A memorial service has been held on February 15 ever year since the Civilian War Memorial was unveiled in 1967.

First, let's have a look at the numbers across the Asian markets on this Monday evening.

Chinese stocks extended rallies, with construction and infrastructure leading the gains.

The communications sector also saw solid gains, despite authorities dismissing merger rumors for China's telecom companies. China Unicom, one of China's biggest telecom carrier, surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index finished up by nearly three fifths of a percent.

South Korea's KOSPI and Singapore's Straits Times index both ended with slight gains.

And finally in Australia, the ASX 200 traded higher by nearly one fifths of a percent.

China Central bank has announced that starting from 4pm Tuesday, payment services for amounts under 50-thousand yuan will shut for three days.

The payment service for amounts over 50-thousand Renminbi will remain open.

During the closure period, all Chinese banks will also stop the interbank transaction service, at service centers and online.

Users can go to ATMs or use a third party like Alipay to make interbank transactions.

The policy is to take place during the Spring Festival and will be inconvenient for those who need cash during the holiday.

Several foreign banks, including Citibank China, recently passed assessments of the central bank and have been given the permission to launch free trade accounting units in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

With the FT account, users are able to further save on financing costs and better manage cross-border risk, through a slew of new services that include cross-border treasury management, investment and fund raising innovations, as well as FX and interest derivatives products.

The permission follows the central bank's decision on financial reforms and innovation in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.

Each step in the financial sector innovation process involves risk control and stress tests under the supervision of central bank.

"We have a Free Trade Accounting Unit supervision system, which enables us to watch all banking service 24/7. We have all accounts from every bank, and this made a mechanism linking the central bank, the foreign exchange regulator, and all banks to manage during the process and to supervise afterwards."

Before this, only Chinese banks were allowed to open free trade units and provide related services to their clients.

With these foreign banks passing assessments, the financial market will be open wider to foreign financial markets.

China's central bank says the 40 billion US dollar fund that will finance the country's proposed Silk Road initiatives has officially begun operation.

The Silk Road Fund Company was established at the end of last year after President Xi Jinping announced the creation of the fund in November.

The company has been jointly funded by China's foreign exchange reserves, China Investment Corporation, the Export-Import Bank of China, and China Development Bank.

The money will be used to take advantage of investment opportunities and to provide investment and financing services linked to the "Belt and Road" initiatives.

"Belt and Road" refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives proposed by China in 2013, and aiming to improve cooperation with countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa.

China's two biggest taxi hailing apps, Didi and Kuaidi have denied that their merger will create a monopoly.

According to China's anti-monopoly law, companies that want to merge should report to the Ministry of Commerce if their combined turnover in the last fiscal year exceeded two billion yuan or 300 million US dollars.

Insider says the two companies' combined revenue is far lower than the monopoly standard, so they are not obliged to report.

The two rivals announced the largest merger in China's internet history on Saturday.

The new merged company is currently valued at some 6 billion U.S. dollars.

Employees in the IT industry have been rewarded with generous year-end bonuses ranging from up to 50 months' pay to luxury cars.

Experts say this indicates the fierce competition for talent in the fast-growing sector.

China's largest search engine company Baidu offered a record number of bonuses to treat employees who are the biggest contributors in the last year, with one employee getting a bonus equivalent to 50 months' pay.

Shanghai-based app developer lianwifi.com with around 40 employees, offered every employee who had been in the company for over four months a Tesla car as a year-end bonus.

PXC Consulting says in a report that among 6 thousand companies, around 84 percent of employers plan to offer a year-end bonus to their employees.

Mercedes-Benz has announced a recall notice affecting more than 125-thousand of its vehicles sold in China.

The country's quality watchdog says the recall involves CLS-class and E-class vehicles imported to China, and some E-class cars manufactured by Beijing Benz Automotive.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine says there is a fire risk with the vehicles.

The recall was issued after it was noticed that a sealing strip for the engine cabin was found to be coming loose in some vehicles, increasing the risk for an engine fire if the material happens to come into contact with a hot engine block.

All of the affected vehicles were manufactured between 2012 and 2014. Starting from March 13th, the company will inspect all vehicles covered by the recall and replace defective parts free of charge.

The quality watchdog announced in a separate notice that Mercedes Benz China will also recall more than 700 G-class SUVs, effective March 9th, because of a steering problem.

Swedish truck maker Volvo has invested 5.5 billion yuan or 885 million US dollars in China's biggest truck maker Dongfeng after 9 years of negotiations.

The deal gives Volvo Group 45 percent of a subsidiary of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles.

The deal comes as China's heavy-duty vehicle market shows signs of flattening.

Volvo Group has licensed the joint venture to produce a heavy-duty manual transmission in Shenyang, a component it plans to buy back later to ease the costs of shipping the parts from Sweden.

And for Dongfeng-branded trucks, the alliance with Volvo Group may help to explore the overseas market.

Hong Kong jewellery retailer Chow Tai Fook is looking to invest 2.6 billion US dollars to build a casino resort near South Korea's largest airport, located in Inchon.

The resort is expected to include foreigner-only casino, hotel, shopping, and entertainment facilities.

The resort targets Chinese tourists, who make up more than half the business in South Korea's casinos.

South Korea bans locals from entering most of its casinos, and new licenses are only being approved for foreigner-only casinos.

The company has also teamed up with a property firm, Far East Enterprises Consortium, in a bid to build a casino venture in Australia.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says that Iran wants to further advance its relations with China.

Rouhani made the comments in a meeting on Sunday with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Rouhani said Iran will actively take part in China's Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives. He also says that his country wants to expand cooperation in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism.

Rouhani described China's role in the nuclear talks as fair and positive, saying Iran wants to work closer with China to work toward an outcome beneficial to all sides.

Wang, for his part, said China wishes to expand cooperation with Iran in industry and manufacturing on the basis of existing cooperation in the energy sector.

Wang also called on Iran and the P5+1 group to seize the opportunity and overcome obstacles to reach a successful comprehensive deal on the nuclear issue as soon as possible.

Egypt's air force has conducted strikes against Islamic State targets inside of Libya.

The move is seen as retaliation for the deaths of 21 people, all of them Coptic Christians. Yesterday, IS released a video purportedly showing the beheading of each and every one of those Egyptian citizens.

A statement from Egypt's military says air strikes were conducted against IS camps, places of gathering and training, and weapons depots.

The country's president has declared seven days of mourning over the deaths of the 21 citizens.

Su Rong, former vice chairman of China's top political advisory body, has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office following an internal graft investigation.

The captain of a Hong Kong passenger ferry has been sentenced to eight years in jail for his role in a fatal collision that left 39 people dead in 2012.

Over the weekend, a jury found Lai guilty on 39 counts of manslaughter and endangering the lives of others at sea.

Chow Chi-wai, the captain of the other vessel involved in the crash, was sentenced to nine months in jail.

An increasing number of migrant workers in Shanghai have to hole up in short-stay, low-cost accommodation near top Shanghai hospitals, waiting for a hospital bed to soon become available so that they can get treatment.

This is becoming the norm as patients from all over China seek treatment in a prized medical system unable to cope with the demand.

Officials from the Shanghai Children's Medical Center said out-of-towners account for about 70 percent of all inpatients at their hospital.

The influx rattles some local people and medical workers, who complain that the city's health facilities are already overcrowded without visitors adding to the problem.

Still, hospitals have said they don't discriminate against out of towners and don't have any policies that give Shanghai residents priority access to facilities. Beds, they said, go first to patients in the most immediate need, regardless of where they come from.

China has promised to abolish all temporary residence permits for its citizens, taking a small step that some experts said does not address deeper problems in the nation's household registration system.

It has been reported that China would replace all temporary permits for migrant workers with permanent residency, which comes with social security and the right to buy cars and homes.

So far, there are no details about when migrants would be offered permanent residency.

All Chinese residents have a hukou, or residence registration account, which determines their access to education and other social welfare services.

However, the quality of services tied to a rural hukou is inferior to that of an urban account, a source of grievance for millions of Chinese migrants who live in cities but do not enjoy the same welfare services as permanent urban dwellers.

Chefs in Guadalajara, western Mexico, succeeded in constructing a nearly three-kilometre-long uninterrupted line of tacos on Sunday.

Over 130 people spent six hours building the 2757.6 metre long taco line using 1.2 tonnes of pork meat and 1.1 tonnes of tortillas, as part of a world record attempt.

The chef said it was an honour to be part of the record attempt, which used traditional ingredients from the south-eastern state of Yucatan.

A public notary has certified the record and all the supporting documentation will be sent off to Guinness World Records to be verified.

Members of the public were able to enjoy the tacos for free once the line had been completed.

Inner Mongolian herders switch to tourism to protect their grasslands and their traditional way of life

Hundreds of Mongolian herdsmen in the steppe in Inner Mongolia have begun switching to tourism, suggesting climate change has been threatening their traditional way of life.

Flocks of bleating lamb greet tourists who come to stay in traditional Mongolian yurts and new homesteads run by Mongolian herdsmen in Inner Mongolia.

It is part of a new local government initiative along with private tourism companies to help Mongolian herdsmen to open up their homes to travelers.

Wu Lan Hu is a herdsman turned entrepreneur. He and his clan have already set up 27 Mongolian yurts on the edge of the Durong grassland in Damuqi County, which is about 160 km from the provincial capital Hohhot.

"I took a government loan and built the yurts on this campsite in 2013. When I started I had only 7-8 yurts, but within a year I have expanded to 27 yurts due to the support from the local government."

During the travel peak last year Wu Lan Hu and his family made a profit of over 100,000 yuan.

Wu Lan Hu also plans to build a small museum to showcase traditional Mongolian arts and craft.

"Earlier I was also a herdsman, I had 7000 mu of grassland, but over the years, the rainfall has become lesser and lesser, and we have faced droughts. We had to look for alternatives because we cannot only rely on our traditional way of life."

over 60 percent of the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia have been relocated into permanent settlements, mainly after overgrazing led to the degradation of grasslands. Climate change and less rainfall have also led to desertification.

But now according to Wang Cun Hu, Director of the community service center in Bayinaobao township in Damu county,the government gives a special subsidy to herdsmen, to encourage them to leave parts of their land fallow in order to rejuvenate the grassland.

"On one hand, the government has increased the compensation given to herdsmen to leave their land fallow. Now we give 6.5 yuan per mu of land left fallow without grazing and herdsmen are encouraged to grow grass in these areas. On the other hand the government provides training to herdsmen to start alternative businesses like operating Mongolian yurts for tourists."

Encouraging herdsmen to take up tourism has reduced the frequency of violent sand storms that had swept across Inner Mongolia.

"Although we've encouraged herders to reduce the size of their flocks, we don't want them the leave the grasslands. We want to encourage them to utilize their unique skills and make a living here, while preserving their cultural heritage and their grasslands."

With time it is hoped that this form of sustainable tourism will help stop the Gobi desert from creeping into the Inner Mongolian steppes.

China's vice-premier says that 2022 bid will boost winter sports in country.

Beijing's bid for the Winter Olympics is a springboard for hundreds of millions of Chinese to join in sports on ice and snow, Chinese vice premier Liu Yandong said in an announcement yesterday.

During her visit to the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee, Liu said the bid will not only spread the Olympic spirit but also popularize winter sports in the country which is striving to be a bona fide world sports power.

The vice premier noted the bid will help promote service sectors such as fitness, leisure, culture and tourism and improve environment in north China.

Beijing submitted its official bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in January and an IOC evaluation delegation is set to arrive in Beijing next month. The only other competing city - Almaty in Kazakhstan - is being evaluated.

If the bid is successful, the Chinese capital will co-host the Games with Zhangjiakou, a Hebei province city some 200 kilometers northwest of Beijing.

The standing committee of the People's Congress in both cities have voted unanimously to support the Olympic bid.

The 2015 NBA All-Star Game took place at Madison Square Garden in New York earlier today, with brothers Pau and Marc Gasol facing each other on the opening tip.

The first quarter came to a close with a flourish. Kyrie Irving missed a three pointer for the East and Kevin Durant grabbed the rebound and found his Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook down court. Westbrook went in and beat the buzzer with a big slam dunk to put the West up 47-36. He had a record 27 first-half points.

Second quarter action was punctuated by the West's Dirk Nowitzki converting a feed from Stephen Curry for an alley oop dunk. The 36-year-old German had five points and five rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench, and his team headed into the intermission up 83-82.

The third quarter saw a lot of back-and-forth action. LeBron James finished with a team-high 30 points for the eastern conference.

James Harden had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the West. The guard shot 7-of-12 from outside the arc to help his team set a record with 25 three-pointers in the game. Eight of those came in the third quarter but the frame still ended with the teams tied at 122.

The game was tied at 148 with a little more than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before the West went on a 10-1 run to take control of the game. When all was said and done, the Western Conference had beaten the East 163-158.

With offense on the decline and strikeouts at an all-time high, Major League Baseball is reportedly looking into shrinking the strike zone in upcoming seasons.

Any formal rules change would have to be approved by baseball's Playing Rules Committee. The committee will monitor the strike zone this season and potentially look to implement changes in 2016 at the earliest.

Over the past five seasons, the strike zone has expanded about 40 square inches, from 435 square inches in 2009 to 475 square inches in 2014.

The largest part of that expansion is in the lower area of the strike zone, with umpires more frequently signaling strikes for pitches below the kneecap. Low pitches are generally considered more difficult to handle for batters, most of whom have a tougher time driving the ball when reaching down for it.

Not surprisingly, the walk rate across the majors is down while the strikeout rate is up.

Another key factor in the trend toward dominant pitching and away from prolific hitting is a steady increase in the called strike rate. The current rate of called strikes is nearly 15 percent higher than it was in 1988.

The last time MLB officially changed the definition of the strike zone came after the 1996 season, when the boundary for the bottom of the zone was lowered from the top of the batter's knees to the bottom.

The Chicago Blackhawks took out the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 in a shootout.

Super China, a seven-episode documentary has been screened in South Korea and has seen its ratings soar.

The special series which aired last month, introduced China as a whole covering demographics, economics, resources, geography and cultural power.

The ratings for Super China surpassed 10 percent which is double the average ratings for a South Korean documentary.

Producer Park Jin-hwan who has worked in China for many years, says that the high ratings show how much South Korean audiences are interested in China.

In South Korea, the documentary has been referred to as the encyclopedia for South Koreans to get to know China.

Producers are considering filming a new series focusing on the influence of China's economics on South Korea.

Israel based Dori Media has inked distribution deals in both China and South Africa for its reality programme Power Couple.

A full season of the show has been sold to Chinese production company Shanghai Viva.

The show follows eight couples who face a series of extreme challenges to prove how well they really know each other.

Power Couple's first season in Israel was extremely popular. Sales to China and South Africa follow previous distribution deals in Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Italy and the US.

Former Spice Girl turned designer Victoria Beckham is to visit Hong Kong and Beijing in the coming weeks.

Victoria revealed that she is visiting China because she is looking for somewhere to open a boutique in Asia following the success of her store in London.

The former pop star also said that she plans to spend a lot of time in Asia this year. She said she was excited to spend time in a place that understands fashion and style.

Her announcement comes after her husband David Beckham has featured in an advertising campaign for the Venetian Macao. The video campaign sees David kicking a ball inside the hotel, sampling food and watching a boxing match.

Sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" has celebrated its 40th anniversary with a three-and-a-half-hour self-tribute, airing last night on US station NBC.

Everyone who has ever been an "SNL" regular, guest host, musical guest or behind-the-scenes creative force was on the guest list, along with a host of other big names.

"I wouldn't have missed this for anything. And so far it's even just the days leading up have been so special just getting to hang out with old friends and catching up and reminiscing as well as tonight's show is going to be I think another piece of television history. It's very cool."

Adam Sandler, another SNL alum, said the show's long-time producer Lorne Michaels was the reason for the big turnout.

"He keeps this baby running. Keeps it, he puts a lot of greatness on here and that's the reason it gets to stay on the air so and we all had the best time and nothing feels better than being together and hanging out. Thank you."

"SNL" premiered Oct. 11, 1975, with comedian George Carlin as host, and Billy Preston and Janis Ian its musical guests.

新闻纵贯线 The Beijing Hour updated 20:00 2015/02/16（在线收听）