This is People’s Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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Regulator steadily opens Chinese financial sector 

China further opened its financial sector to foreign investors.

The country’s banking and insurance regulator approved market access to two more financial institutions.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced on Sunday it approved Allianz SE's application to begin setting up Allianz (China) Insurance Holding Company Ltd.

It will become the first foreign-funded insurance holding company in China.

The regulator also allowed Chiyu Banking Corporation, a licensed bank in Hong Kong, to make preparations to set up a branch in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. (China Daily)

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China's box office reaches over 55.9b yuan in 11 months 

China’s box office revenue soared to 55.9 billion yuan ($8.05 billion) by the end of November, exceeding the total ticket sales of 2017 and breaking the country’s annual record.

Four domestic films were this year’s highest-grossing. “Operation Red Sea” topped the charts with $575.8 million, followed by “Detective Chinatown 2”, “Dying to Survive” and “Hello Mr. Billionaire”. The top grossing foreign movies at the box office this year were “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Venom”, which is still being screened.

Up to 73 movies surpassed the 100 million yuan ($14.4 million) mark, including 39 domestic films, which accounted for 60 percent of the total.

China's box office raked in more than 5.6 billion yuan ($806 million) during the Spring Festival holiday this year, breaking the sales record for the same period last year. Many industry experts predicted that China’s box office could easily gross 60 billion yuan ($8.64 billion) at the end of the year. However, the banning of movie ticket subsidies earlier this year and the box-office downshift during the National Day holiday period made it unclear whether this year’s box office would reach 60 billion yuan. (People’s Daily app)

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Mexico to deport migrants who rushed US border 

The Mexican Interior Ministry said it would immediately deport Central American migrants who try to “violently” breach the border with the US just south of California.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said US authorities will continue to have a “robust” presence along the Southwest border and that they will prosecute anyone who damages federal property or violates US sovereignty.

About 500 migrants who arrived in Tijuana by caravan marched toward the border to plead for the US to speed the processing of asylum requests.

The march, however, was dispersed by tear gas after some in the group tried to force their way into the US.

The Mexican government described Sunday’s events as “acts of provocation” that were “far from helpful” for the migrants’ objectives. (Xinhua)

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Beijing to honor founders of three internet giants 

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) plans to award founders of the country's three internet giants, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba for their contributions to the reform and opening up.

Baidu's Robin Li, Tencent's Pony Ma and Alibaba's Jack Ma are among the 100 people the CPC Central Committee will honor following a selection process, according to the list published on People’s Daily Monday.

Ma, 54, a CPC member, has been a huge driving force for domestic demand, said a statement under his name.

The jury office also listed his achievements: Internet payment and logistics systems mobile payment network, independent research and development of Alibaba Cloud, and Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP).

“Under his leadership, Alibaba ranks among the top 10 global companies in terms of market value, making China a leading player in the international e-commerce industry, internet finance and cloud computing, spawning a large number of entrepreneurs and start-ups,” it said. (People’s Daily app)

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Moscow confirms Russia shoots, holds 3 Ukrainian naval ships in Black Sea

Russian forces opened fire on and seized three Ukrainian naval ships in Russia's territorial waters in the Black Sea.

This, after a Russian security official said they violated the Russian border.

The Ukrainian ships breached the Russian border on Sunday morning and attempted to conduct further illegal actions at around 7 p.m. Moscow time.

They also defied orders of accompanying vessels of the Black Sea Fleet. (AP)

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Olympic-related meetings overshadowed by corruption charges

 

A corruption case involving a powerful International Olympic Committee member is likely to overshadow meetings this week in Tokyo with local Olympic organizers, IOC officials, and the heads of 206 national Olympic committees.

Under pressure, Sheikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah stepped down temporarily last week as an IOC member amid a pending criminal trial in Switzerland. He denies any wrongdoing and has said the charges against him are "politically motivated."

He has been an IOC member since 1992 and is the head of the Olympic Council of Asia. (AP)

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NASA's spacecraft on course to land on Mars, scrutinizing its deep interior 

And NASA's spacecraft is expected to touch down on Mars on Monday.

This, to study the deep interior of the Red Planet.

The InSight spacecraft will complete its seven-month journey to Mars, traveling about 485 million kilometers at a top speed of 10,000 kilometers per hour.

Before the spacecraft enters Martian atmosphere, engineers still need to conduct a last trajectory correction maneuver to steer the spacecraft toward its entry point over Mars. (Xinhua)

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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight.  Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by David Nye and Qu Qiuyan)