China to accelerate key reform measures in 2025: official

China will speed up the implementation of key reforms this year, targeting the fiscal, educational, healthcare, and foreign investment sectors, Shen Danyang, director of the State Council Research Office, said Wednesday in Beijing.

At a media briefing following Premier Li Qiang's government work report at the opening of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress, Shen, a drafter of the report, outlined that 2025 will see a focus on both comprehensive reforms and breakthroughs in key areas, with particular emphasis on fast-tracking landmark initiatives.

"In terms of fiscal and tax system reforms, this year we will accelerate the shift in the collection of certain consumption taxes to a later stage, as well as transfer responsibility for collection to local governments. While this reform has been discussed for several years, we are now committed to fast-tracking it. The goal is to ease the financial burden on production enterprises without increasing the tax burden on consumers, while also helping local governments improve the consumption environment and drive local consumption growth," Shen said.

Turning to education, Shen highlighted the gradual introduction of free preschool education, as proposed in the government work report. In healthcare, the government plans to deepen reforms in public hospitals, emphasizing public welfare to ensure more accessible and affordable healthcare services for residents, Shen said.

Shen also outlined plans to expand market access for foreign investment in key sectors this year. He stressed the importance of progressively deepening institutional reforms, increasing both independent and unilateral openness, and improving the business environment through market-driven policies, rule of law, and international standards.

"This year, we will further ease market access for foreign investments, expand pilot programs in sectors such as telecommunications, healthcare, and education, and revise the 'Catalogue of Encouraged Foreign Investment Industries' to broaden the scope of foreign investment. Additionally, we will focus on enhancing services for foreign-invested enterprises, optimizing the entire project process, expanding financing channels, and facilitating smoother personnel exchanges. We believe that as long as foreign investors seize favorable opportunities and invest strategically in China for the long term, they will be well-positioned to share in the new business opportunities generated by China's expanding market," said Shen.

China to accelerate key reform measures in 2025: official

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight