niwa is a former chairman of major trading house itochu corporation. he's the first japanese ambassador to china chosen from the private sector. >> china's ambassador to japan cheng yonghua also attended the party. he said japanese investment and technologies are indispensable to china's growth. he said he hopes that niwa, as a japanese business leader, will bring his expertise to bilateral relations. niwa is to assume his post in beijing on saturday. >>> japanese women are again leading the world when it comes to living longer. new figures show life expectancy in japan hit a record high in 2009 for the fourth year in a row. the country's health ministry said on monday the average life span for japanese women was 86.44 last year. that's an increase of 0.39 years from 2008. 79.59.fe span for japanese men the life span has been rising since 2000. the exception was in 2005 when a flu outbreak lowered figures. they credit advanced medical treatments for the three major causes of death, cancer, heart disease and stroke. it also says there have been fewer de