taro aso made the proposal to a high-ranking chinese official. aso had a five-minute exchange with vice premier zhang gaoli in beijing. they were attending a group from the economic corporation forum. >> translator: i told zhang that it would be very significant for improving bilateral ties if the top leaders could talk on the sidelines of the apec summit in beijing next month. >> aso told reporters that japan's direct investment in china for the first half of this year dropped about 49% from a year earlier. he said continued dialogue is necessary in order to improve ties between the two nations. aso is the second ranking position in the cabinet of shinzo abe. zhang is the number seven man in the chinese communist party. >>> china is trying to expand in asia. so what can you tell us? >> the chinese president proposed last year the creation of a new bank. it would be for investing in infrastructure in asian countries. he called it the asia infrastructure investment bank. now china's finance minister is backing the idea. he held a uh news conferenc

in 2008, obuchi became minister for declining birthrate measures under then prime minister taro aso. she was then 34. making her the youngest minister in any cabinet in post-war japan. abe named obuchi to the number two position in the finance ministry two years ago when he became prime minister for a second time. she also chaired a lower house committee on education and science. obuchi won praise from prime minister abe and leaders of the ruling liberal democratic party for her understanding of a broad range of issues. that's one reason she was chosen to join the cabinet. matsushima stepped down from her first cabinet post after less than two months on the job. before becoming a lawmaker in 2000, she was a journalist at a newspaper. later she served in the number two position at the economy and industry ministry, and the land and infrastructure ministry. >> and abe has selected two lawmakers to fill the portfolios in his cabinet. abe has chosen upper house member yoichi miyazawa as the new economy, trade and industry minister. he's a nephew of the late former foreign minister miyaza

japan's finance minister taro aso said afterwards that he's concerned about weaknesses in the global economy. the dow jones industrial average marked its worse loss of the year on thursday while share prices are also falling here in tokyo. aso said concerns about the european economy are to blame. >> translator: the u.s. economy is definitely recovering with the improvement in its labor market. but the situation in europe is different. >> aso said the g-20 team agrees on the need to promote unified financial and monetary policies and structural reforms to raise the global economy. the g-20 financial leaders will meet again on friday. they're expected to discuss concrete measures to boost infrastructure investment in emerging economies. and officials at the bank of japan are cautious about the future of industrial output and personal spending. their views have emerged and minutes from the bank's policy meeting last month. the meeting revised downward the bank's assessment of industrial output. policymakers said it is recovering moderately, but does remain weak. the officials warn that

japanese finance minister taro aso will explain how the country is trying to rebuild its finances, and get the economy growing again. he's the first japanese finance minister to attend the annual meeting in four years. aso apparently hopes that will lay the groundwork for a meeting between prime minister shinzo abe and chinese leaders on the sidelines of the apec summit next month. >>> japanese business people are showing off their company's products in baghdad, and that is despite worsening security there. about 20 japanese firms and organizations are taking part in iraq's largest trade show, the baghdad international fair. the number is down 30% from last year due to advances by islamic state militants. that hasn't stopped many at the show, though, from betting on future opportunities. >> translator: i hope the new government will do something to improve the safety situation. you can't even do business here without body armor. >> company representatives point out that iraq remains one of the leading oil producing countries, and with a population of more than 30 million, they say it's