bittersweet greeting. >> we welcome china's peaceful. >> it is an issue the country is long criticized for neglecting. he greeted the vice president at

the white house. he pressed him on some of the same issues he stressed with other leaders. xi is expected to become head of the communist party this fall. >> translator: i look forward to my in depth discussion with you. >> obama said china must play fair with trade partners around the world. >> we want to work with china to make sure everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system, and that includes ensuring that there is a balanced trade flow between not only the united states and china but around the world. >> obama urged xi and other chinese leaders to recognize the importance of human rights. he said increased responsibility goes along with power and prosperity. xi said he hopes his visit will deepen mutual understanding and

lead to greater consensus. he said the countries should built a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and interests, but he suggested the two need to acknowledge their differences. leadededededededed hospitality to xi. vice president joe biden is accompanying him to most of his destinations. republican party leaders criticized the administration for being too soft on china. pakistan's air force is in talks with china over a possible purchase of the country's mainstay fighter jets. the deputy chief of the staff said that china delivered one surveillance aircraft last month, and pakistan will receive three more this year. pakistan bought the aircraft to boost its defense capabilities. the official noted that the air force is considering a proposal to buy ten fighter jets from china, and pakistan's military has been deepening ties with china and buying more chinese

defense equipment and weapons in recent years. america says that pakistan is seeking chinese support to upgrade the equipment as the country continues to have strained relations with the u.s. asia's largest aviation fair is under way in singapore with the most up-to-date models of fighter jets and civilian aircraft on display. a record 900 companies and organizations from more than 50 countries are taking part in the biennial air show. on this display are 65 airplanes d including the boeing 787 the airmaker's latest model. an unmanned drone is displayed for the first time from asia. military officials exchanged information with representatives of aircraft manufacturers. india and other asian countries are buying more planes among

china's build-up of territorial disputes in the china sea. also on display is lockheed martin's f-35 stealth fighter under development. the united states has increased importance on its military strategy in the asia-pacific region, and is urging the countries there to introduce the china's defense minister met self defense officers in beijing. he expressed hope that defense exchanges can be deepened with japan. the delegation of ten japanese officers is visiting china until the 23rd. they told chinese minister they want to increase defense exchanges with china this year. 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties. he said there are various issues the two countries need to work onto strengthen their

relationship, but problems will be gradually solved by building up mutual trust. bilateral relations became strained after an incident in 2010. a chinese fishing boat collided with japanese patrol vessels near the disputed islands in the east china sea. more members of japan's central bank surprised markets. they expanded easy money policy and set clear inflation target. ai uchida is following this. what is the central bank trying to do? >> the board members are trying to raise prices and fight deflation, which has been a persistent problem here in japan. and with the announcement of further money easing yesterday, they did make the stance clear, but it appears certain that there are many challenges in getting the prices to rise. bank of japan officials set a goal for 1% inflation at a policy meeting that ended tuesday. the resolve to tackle deflation

and get prices on an upward trend. if the past is any indication, the bank will face difficulty realizing its aims. the bank has maintained credit easing measures since 1999, including a near zero interest ra policy. looking at the ten years through last year, consumer inflation topped the 1% level only in 2008. in other years it was either negative or stayed close to zero. eurozone countries are expected to postpone a decision on additional financial aid for greece. the nation hasn't met some of the requirements for a bailout. juncker said the meeting scheduled for wednesday is cancelled. a teleconference will be held instead. he said although they approved austerity measures, the governing parties haven't handed in written pledges to implement

them. he also noted the greek government has still not presented the details on this year's spending cuts. eurozone members will finalize the greek bailout plan at a meeting to be held next monday at the earliest. greece could default on its debts, unless it receives additional aid by march 20th when the country is due to repay a huge volume of government bonds. but tough conditions imposed by other eurozone members are generating frustration among the greeks. in u.s., retail sales are up by a little. january saw an increase, but the pace of growth has again fallen short of expectations. the u.s. department of commerce said on tuesday that retailers posted combined sales of slightly above $400 billion last month. that's up four-tenths percent since december, but half the growth rate predicted by observers. department stores and volume

retailers saw arise of 2%, restaurants 1.3%, and electronics stores .5%. cars and auto parts fell 1%. focus is on whether sales figures suggest upturn in consumer spending which is a key u.s. economic driver. now for a check on the markets, u.s. stocks ended the day in the positive on hopes. ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. we are seeing some positive signs from the u.s. economy, but markets remain cautious over europe. >> definitely, ai, good morning to you. we saw u.s. stocks recovering into the close there on hopes of the greek debt deal going through. as you mention, there are retail sales also. if you take out the car sales and components and gas prices, the actual core amount rose 0.7% for january, which was a little

bit of a positive, if you take out the overall numbers there. so some positives to take out from the retail sales. but let's see how the nikkei and topix are kicking off this wednesday morning here in tokyo, and both indexes trading higher. nikkei closed above 9,000 yesterday and seeing the trade today. highest close yesterday since september, 2011. as you mentioned there, unexpectedly and positively, japan deciding to expand assets behind program or credit easing, and that was after a two day meeting yesterday. that fed through to the markets. we did see a pop higher for japanese government bond prices. inversely, saw a little selling on the yen. bank of japan moved there causing investors to sell a little of the yen on concerns about japan's economy. let's have a look at the currency levels this morning. dollar yen and euro yen levels

here. currently, the yen falling to more than a three month low at one point. dollar yen, 78.39-41. it was trading around 77 this time yesterday. euro yen, 102.88-93, trading around 101 levels this time yesterday as well. >> ramin, what's coming up as far as economic data investors may be watching for? >> a lot to focus on for the new york region. there's going to be a manufacturing index known as empire state index, that's a key focus. also industrial production coming out later today in the u.s. as well. >> so i guess we'll see if the numbers tally with recent positive data coming out from the u.s. >> exactly. and again, a little bit of a balancing act for investors, ai, with continuing concerns over greece and eurozone economies, especially following moody's downgrade of some eurozone countries, including spain,

portugal, and that may weigh a little on sentiment. as you said there, recent data out of the u.s. has been largely on the positive side. so a bit of a balancing act there for investors. back to you. >> all right, ramin. thanks a lot for that update. ramin mellegard from the tokyo stock exchange. the nikkei higher by eight-tenths of a percent. >> that's the latest in business. back to catherine. the russian military plans to build more outposts on a group of four disputed islands off northern japan in a move to

tighten control over the region. russia state run news agency says the military will construct two outposts next year on two islands. the agency quoted the cheech of the general staff as having said that five outposts already exist on the islands. he also disclosed plans to repair a military airfield and to replace some tanks with light weight armored vehicles more convenient for snowy roads. russia has been building roads and other infrastructure and upgrading equipment for 3500 personnel stationed there. a territorial dispute between japan and russia has been simmering for decades. we just mentioned in our earlier story about the issue. the two sides have been engaged in negotiations over four small islands off japan's northern prefecture of hokkaido, but a solution is hard to come by.

russia has other countries to participate in economic activities on the islands.aothe participate in economic activities on the islandsother participate in economic activities on the islandkother o participate in economic activities on the islandeother to participate in economic activities on the islanddother to participate in economic activities on the island other s to participate in economic activities on the islands. >> reporter: the four islands are close to japan's northern prefecture of hokkaido. they are surround soviet forces took control of the islands soon after the end of world war ii. japan renounced control of the kuril islands in the 1951 san francisco peace treaty, but tokyo insists there was no agreement to surrender the four disputed islands. russia has moved to strengthen its territorial claim in recent years. in 2010, president medvedev became the first russian leader to set foot on kunishirri. four months later a seminar was held in beijing to attract investment in the islands. chinese companies were urged to take part in developing natural resources and construction

projects. four months later, a company on kunishiri was given permits to hire chinese farmers. they are growing potatoes and carrots. more foreign labor arrived in december. russian authorities gave a construction firm the go ahead a hire north korean workers. the firm has a government contract to build houses and fire stations. for more insight we first asked why the russian government is encouraging outside investment in the islands. >> moscow wants to improve people's living standards on the islands. a key priority for them is improving roads, buildings and other infrastructure. the program is there's a shortage of labor in the islands. the solution is to invite foreign investment. authorities have asked china and

north korea to supply manpower and technology. both companies have shown interest. chinese company see potential for growing food on the island, and for north korea, it's an important source of currency. japan is opposed to investment by third countries, because it could be seen as legitimizing russia's claim for sovereignty. before sounding out -- a russia invited japan to jointly develop the islands. our japanese expert on russia explains why tokyo is wary of this idea. >> translator: russia will go ahead and develop the disputed islands, even if japan refuses to cooperate. the problem is that russian authorities proposed that joint develop be carried out under

russian law. if japan invests in the disputed islands under russian control, it effectively means that japan is legitimizing russian sovereignty, putting japan in a difficult position. >> it will get harder and harder to settle the issue, if russia continues to boost its control. japan and russia have both said they want to create the right environment for a solution, but they are not even close. russia, forces on the islands. moscow is concerned about china's naval expansion and the new u.s. depense strategy in the asia-pacific region. this arms buildup could trigger tensions with neighboring countries, so the international community needs to keep a

eye on russia's movements on the islands. "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post-march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on the fallout from the earthquake and tsunami. "nuclear watch" brings you insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and "the road ahead" examines japan's efforts to rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead" on "newsline." another search operation has gotten under way in the tsunami devastated city of ishinomaki in northern japan. it's the first time such an intensive search has been carried out on the fuj ga wa river. the search was organized after

the parents of four missing children made the request. heavy machinery moved in to action and removed the debris. the river had been dammed and drained of water. of the 108 students in the school, 70 died in the disaster. four of them are still listed as missing, along with more than 40 other civilians. >> we hope to find even a small clue of the missing people to return to their long waiting families. >> the search will continue for about ten days. time to check other stories around asia. police raided a hotel in stit after getting a tip a criminal ring was operating a fake casino.

16 men and women were arrested, all except one from mainland china. more than $12 million of fake casino chips were also recovered. police say the group rented rooms at expensive hotels and turned them into gambling dense. they were drugged with tranquilizers. some said to have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. mal asia state owned oil company discovered two major gas deposits in the south china sea. they say they made the finds in september and november. the first well discovered after drilling to a dep 3200 meters. the other well was 17 kilometers away at 3800 meters. indications are it contains about 450 billion cubic feet of

gas. the company plans to conduct drilling 30 more wells in 2012. people across thailand celebrated valentine's day. a large number of couples flocked to the office to register marriages. they hosted a traditional wedding ceremony. the northern city here held a mass wedding for 14 couples. the ceremony was followed by a parade of the newlyweds. the prime minister called on all thais to love each other not only on valentine's day but every day. it stopped raining in tokyo, but the skies are still looking gloomy. rachel ferguson joins us with the world forecast. >> well, it does look like it's going to be staying dry here in central japan. as you say, very gloomy cloudy skies. it's because we're sandwiched in between two systems. to the south, more rain along

that front. to the north we have quite a potent system. this could bring an extra 50 centimeters of snow in the next 24 hours, and the winds will be very strong as well. winds up to about 83 kilometers an hour, so that means rough seas and potential for waves to reach 4 to 6 meters. now, back in across the northern continental, looking dry, high pressure is in place. also allowing cooler air to come down across eastern china, so we'll be seeing temperatures falling into the next couple days. as for the precipitation here across the east of china, to the north we'll be seeing snow, but from the shanghai region south, it will be turning over to rain. mostly dry in indochina. we've got a new system here in the south china sea, just going to be pushing toward the west and bringing showers in towards parts of southern vietnam. then for the philippines, once again heavier rain, and it has been ongoing in parts of mindanao the last several days. that means an intense risk of

landslides and also for flooding to occur. 25 degrees in taipei. a warm day here, just six forecast for your high on wednesday. three meanwhile, in seoul. as we head into north america, we have a pacific system bringing coastal rain and also mountain snow. this low is going to be descending to the south. bringing the rain to southern california, and snow to the mountains of utah, maybe even be 20 centimeters is possible here. then across the lower midwest, another area of rain, particularly to the south, that's going to be accompanied by thunderstorms which could turn severe, but later on in the day, for this precipitation, further toward the north, maybe a mix of sleet and slush rather than any real snow here, but it is going to be getting a bit cooler and may be turning over to some ice.

as for the atlantic coast, mostly dry and fine today as one system pushes away. 11 degrees in new york city, but a cloudy day for you. temperatures improving for oklahoma city as well, up to 16 degrees, that's a real jump from your monday temperature, which is just hovering around 3 or 4 degrees. 2 meanwhile, in denver. we have 16 and a cloudy day for los angeles. all right. as we head into europe, temperatures will be improving across much of the continent today starting in the west. much of the west here, including the british isles, and the iberian peninsula staying mostly dry, but it will be quite gusty. strong high pressure offshore there, and this low pressure system to the south of scandinavia. this one brings a mixture of rain in the valleys, and it does look very windy as well. that will mean blowing snow across parts of the alpine region.

austrian alps, you can see an extra 40 centimeters of snow into your thursday afternoon. it will be accompanied by gusts of 95 kilometers, as we head to the southeast, this is going to be bringing here into turkey this low, pretty heavy snow coming in, temperatures dropping and plenty precipitation, so lots of mountain snow and also snow showers. here your temperatures, you'll notice a big improvement. dropping owl toward the west, double figures in london. here's your extended forecast.

our lead story this hour, u.s. president broemd welcomed xi jinping at the white house. xi is expected to become ruler of the communist party this fall. >> translator: i look forward to my in depth discussion with you, president obama. >> obama told xi china must play fair with trade partners around

the world. >> we want to work with china to make sure everybody is working by the same rules of the road when it comes to the world economic system, and that includes ensuring there is a balanced trade flow between not only the united states and china but around the world. >> obama urged xi to recognize the importance of human rights. he said increased responsibility goes hand in hand with power and prosperity. xi said he hopes his visit will deep enmutual understanding and lead to greater consensus. he said the country should build a partnership based on mutual respect an interest but he acknowledged they need to address their differences. vice president joe biden is accompanying him to most of his destinations. republican party leaders have criticized the administration for being too soft on china.

eurozone countries are expected to postpone a decision on additional financial aid for greece. the debt strapped nation has not met some of the requirements for a bailout. the prime minister jean-clawed juncker said the eurozone finance minister meeting for wednesday is cancelled. a teleconference will be held instead. although they approved austerity measures, they haven't turned in written pledges. the greek government has not presented details on this year's spending cuts. eurozone members will finalize the bailout plan at a meeting to be held next monday at the earliest. greece could default on its debts unless it receives additional aid by march 20th when the country is due to repay a huge volume of government bonds. but tough conditions imposed by other eurozone members are generating frustration among the

greek people. that concludes this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. do join us again. we'll be back at the top of the we'll be back at the top of the next hour. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com