China welcomes Bangladeshi interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to attend Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Annual Conference and ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun on Tuesday.
At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Guo confirmed the participation of Yunus in the Boao Forum scheduled from Tuesday to Friday in Boao Town of south China's Hainan Province.
"China welcomes Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to attend the Boao Forum for Asia 2025 Annual Conference. I would like to stress that China and Bangladesh are traditional friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic cooperative partners. This year marks the 50th anniversary of China-Bangladesh diplomatic ties. China is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Bangladesh and jointly promote the continuous development of bilateral relations," he said.
Yunus is expected to deliver a speech at the forum on Thursday, according to Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Bangladesh's state-run news agency BSS reported.
China welcomes Bangladesh's chief adviser to Boao Forum, ready to strengthen bilateral cooperation
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
