and for more insight, ai uchida talked with the senior consultant for research at the asian develop bank institute. we started out by asking him the main takeaway from the latest figures. >> well, the figure of 6.7% was very much in line with expectations of the third quarter in a row of that figure. and i think the officials have to be fairly satisfied with it. it's within the growth range of 6.5% to 7%. and we're also seeing some signs of stabilization there after the declining trend in previous years. so i think they're probably happy with those figures. >> what's driving growth and what's weighing on it? >> growth has been driven primarily by the fiscal stimulus programs of the government. also housing has picked up recently. and consumer spending has been relatively stable also. the weakness has been mainly in private capital investment which has been pulled down both by excess capacity in the manufacturing sector and the continued weakness of exports. >> looking ahead, then, what would be your -- the challenges. what challenges do you see, you know, facing the chinese economy? >> t

ai uchida joins us now. good morning. tell us about the numbers. >> good morning.ave machinery orders for you and this sheds light on capital spending by private companies. the latest data show a somewhat cautious attitude toward investment. machinery orders in august fell for the first time in three months. officials at the cabinet office say the orders in august were worth about $8.4 billion. that is down 2.2% in yen terms from july. the figures exclude the ship building and power sectors, which tend to see large fluctuations. now let's check on markets. wall street slumped on weak earnings result and key indices showed their lowest decline since early september. the dow jones, 18,128. the nasdaq, down 1%. now let's see how we are kicking off this wednesday. we're going to go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock x exchan exchange. what's going on in tokyo this morning? >> thank you very much. yes, earnings season kicking off in earnest in the u.s. investors looking for a ripple effect for japanese component makers. and there's a big supply stream as well. so any

ai uchida joins us now. what's going to be done? >> the panama papers showed that many of the world's wealthiest individuals and companies, that they are not paying their fair share, and officials at japan's national tax agency are tightening measures to prevent wealthy people and multinational corporations from through hafern havens and other strategies. agency officials say they'll launch a system by september 2018 to automatically exchange information with tax authorities in over 100 nations. the effort will be based on international rules. the officials say that starting next july, they will expand a nationwide network of project teams specializing in taxation of the well off. >>> sources say executives at coca-cola group and kiring holdings are thinking about a business alliance. it would be aimed at fierce competition in japan's soft drink market. coca-cola is the market leader and kiring ranks fourth. the sources say the executives are considering joint delivery of products as well as joint procurement of ingredients, contain

ai uchida joins from the business desk. what's behind this proposed alliance? >> japan's motorcycle market is shrinking. the country's aging population and low birth rate mean fewer customers and young people nowadays just aren't as enthusiastic about motorbikes as before. so honda and yamaha are looking to join hands. sources say executives are in the final stage of talks on a tie-up. the idea is to jointly develop and produce small scooters. sources say yamaha managers are thinking about outsourcing the production of 50 cc scooters to a honda factory in kumamoto prefecture, southwestern japan. yamaha is currently building them in taiwan. the companies are also aiming for joint development of electric scooters and motorbikes for business use. for example, those used to make deliveries. a tie-up would be a major shift. these two rivals used to engage in fierce competition, mainly over sales of 50 cc scooters in the 1980s. but these small bikes are built to specifications unique to japan. they're not well suited as exports, and they're also low-priced with small

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. tell us who's the new kid on the block? >> we are talking about kyushu railway, known as jr kyuskyushue of the country's big railway operators. its initial public offering is likely to be the second biggest this year in japan. kyushu railway was founded in 1987. that's when the government privatized the former japanese national railways and divided it into regional companies. the japan railway construction, transportation, and technology agency has since held all the shares in kyushu railway but it's decided to sell them off. kyushu railway provides services on the island of the same name in southwestern japan but most of its lines are operating in the red. the company's trying to create new services to attract tourists. it's also getting into developing real estate, including station buildings and condominiums. we will be following the share price action of kyushu railway. let's first check on overall trend in the markets. wall street ended high over optimism about earnings reports. the dow jones industrial average ending

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. >> more and more hedge funds and other investors are using computer programs and artificial intelligence to place orders. the transactions can take a few thousandths of a second. these traders do account for about 70% of all the transactions at the tokyo stock exchange and some analysts warn the practice has triggered sharp fluctuations in share prices. financial regulators are planning to introduce a regulation system for the trading firms. the officials at the financial services trading agency set up a panel of experts in april. to assess whether high speed trading is adequately dealt with. agency officials are planning to require high frequency trading firms to work on thorough risk management. registered firms will be required to have computer systems that can properly process large amounts of orders and prevent false orders. they'll be required to keep records of trading for specific periods. now the fsa officials will present their proposals at a meeting of the experts panel on wednesday. they also hope to make necessary legal revisions

ai uchida joins us now from our business desk with the details. ai, good morning. what do you have for us? two companies here. >> exactly, catherine. we are talking about ja fan's fujitsu and china's linovo group. struggling with a decline in mobile pc demand as smartphones and tablets gain in popularity. fujitsu executives seem to have found a way to cut costs and improve efficiency. sources say they're in the final stage of negotiations with lenovo managers to integrate their pc businesses by the end of march. the sources say the chinese firm is considering taking a majority stake in fujitsu's pc subsidiary. lenovo purchased the pc business of u.s. giant ibm in 2005, six years later the chinese firm integrated its pc business with that of japan's nec. fujitsu holds the numberjapan's. global shipments fell below a million units in fiscal 2015, less than half of the peak level in fiscal 2007. managers plan to maintain the two factories in japan etven after the integration but thinking about transferring pc m manufacturing to lenovo's controls. shave manufacturing c

ai uchida joins us now from our business desk with all the details. ai, what do the minutes say? >> catherine, they actually indicate a split among policymakers over the question of when the fed should raise its key interest rate. the minutes are from a meeting in september when they decided to hold rates steady. even so, several members believe the rate hike would be warranted relatively soon. that's in their words. if labor market conditions continue to improve. the policymakers determined that the u.s. economy was growing at a faster pace in the third quarter than in the first half of the year. they came to that conclusion after sifting through data. the numbers indicated that labor market conditions had strengthened in recent months. most of the policymakers favored waiting for further evidence of continued progress toward the inflation target before deciding on a rate rise, but some participants believe that making the move relatively soon would be appropriate if the economy continued to improve. the minutes show that the decision for a rate hike was a close call. the fed's

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. how are they planning to make me spend more money, ai? >> good question, krath lin. you know black friday, the shopping spree in the u.s. happens after thanksgiving. people in japan, they want something along those lines. but more frequently. and they want to call it premium friday. the idea is to get people to leave work early on some fridays and enjoy shopping or eating out. it is part of their strategy to revitalize the economy. government officials want to expand japan's gross domestic product to $6 trillion. private consumption accounts for 60% of gdp but it's still in the doldrums so people in government and representatives of business groups have decided to work together to get consumers to spend more. >> translator: we need to make it easier for consumers to have the time and ability to increase spending. this could be one way of doing that. >> they plan to make the last friday of every other month premium friday, starting in february. companies will be encouraged to let employees leave work earlier than usual. they'll also ask de

ai uchida, what are the numbers telling us? >> you're talking about the bank of japan's tankan survey, and it is showing that businesses have solid plans for fixed investments, but we still don't know if they'll actually spend as planned with a worsening outlook for earnings. the tan can sees growth of 6.3% in domestic capital expenditures by large companies compared to the last fiscal year. but the stronger yen is weighing down on the corporate earnings outlook. major businesses predicted 9.2% drop year on year on pre-tax profits. that's down two percentage points from the last survey three months ago. if the yen stays strong, there could be a further drop in earnings. central bank officials say they expect a certain level of fixed investments for upgrading aging facilities and boosting production efficiency, but they say the economic trend will depend on whether businesses actually make all their planned investments. >>> let's check on markets now. wall street fell on continued banking worries despite stronger than expected d

ai uchida joins us now from the business desk. ai, good morning. tell us about this report. >> good morning, catherine. you're talking about the beige book, a report compiled by the federal reserve and based on surveys of businesses conducted in the bank's 12 districts. well, the report says that the u.s. economy continues to expand. overall, consumer spending was mixed from late august to early october but retail sales increased in a majority of districts. employment expanded at a moderate pace while labor market conditions remain tight across most districts. some reported labor shortages are putting upward pressure on wages in certain sectors. the beige book cites concerns among some fed officials that uncertainty over economic policies of the next administration could affect personal consumption. evidence of a strong economy raises the likelihood of a rate hike. market players are speck laulat the central bank will make its move in december. >>> now let's go to markets. wall street did end higher. that is as speculations -- that's over much spec

let's bring in ai uchida from our business desk. ai, good morning. tell us about this fronproject. >> the number of middle income earners is growi ining indonesi. japanese businesses and a fund are planning to start a consortium to create a community with some houses. mitsubishi corporations is joining hands with several railway operatorors that have rl estate operations and an investment fund known as j.o.i.n. spon seniored by the private and public sectors. they plan to invest a total of $287 million. their new community will be about 25 kilometers from the indonesian capital, jakarta. they're going to build 900 homes plus some commercial buildings on 19 hectares of land. construction is scheduled to kick off next year. in the meantime, the consortium will establish a joint venture with indonesia's leading real estate corporate group. >>> making and selling car parts in china is big business for some japanese companies and their local partners. many of them are -- attended, rather, a trade fair in chongqing. japan external trade organization hosted