China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official

China has achieved the impossible in its ambitious efforts to eliminate poverty, serving as an inspiration and key partner in world development, said the Bangladeshi interim government's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus while in Beijing.

From March 26 to 29, Yunus participated in the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 in Hainan, an island province in southern China, and subsequently visited Beijing. This marked his first trip to the city since taking his role as chief adviser last August.

During his stay in Beijing, Yunus gave an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) where he discussed the importance of China's rise for developing countries.

"Amazing thing. The first thing that I mentioned when I talk about China, what an inspiration it was for the whole world, not for Bangladesh or a particular country. It's an inspiration for the whole world. What we thought is impossible -- like impossible is how to get the poverty out from a nation. China, with a large population, a large poor population, dared to say no poverty. People said that's crazy, they won't be able to do that. They will not make it. China made it happen. In the entire history of mankind, it never happened before," said Yunus.

In his words, China's accomplishments in this regard are not mere theory but demonstrated reality.

"Impossible things have become easy for China. China was a poor country, didn't have an industry. Now it's a leader of industry. Every country, every nation has to come to China to buy something they cannot produce or produce more expensively. They produce much cheaper, better service. So everything that you see, how you mobilize the strength of the population. It's the power of the young people in the nation and make them to work in a way which benefits the entire world, not just one nation. And people are very grateful to China for that," the chief advisor said.

China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official

China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official

China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official

China's unprecedented poverty elimination inspires global nations: Bangladeshi official

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held a phone conversation on Wednesday, discussing the recent shooting at the White House press dinner, the situation in Iran and the Ukraine crisis, the Kremlin said.

The Russian president informed his U.S. counterpart of Russia's readiness to declare a truce with Ukraine for the period of Victory Day commemorations.

Trump voiced strong support for the initiative, noting that "the holiday marks our common victory over Nazism in World War II," said Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov after the phone conversation that lasted over an hour and a half.

At Trump's request, Putin described the current situation along the contact line with Ukraine, where Russian troops maintain the strategic initiative and are pushing back enemy positions, said Ushakov.

Putin reaffirmed that the goals of the special military operation will be achieved in any case, the aide said. Russia would prefer this to be achieved through negotiations, for which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskymust respond positively to the well-known proposals that have been repeatedly put forward, including by the U.S. side, he said. Russia has handed over more than 20,000 bodies of the deceased to Ukraine, Putin told Trump, adding that Ukraine has returned just over 500 bodies to Russia since the beginning of 2025.

Among the issues on the international agenda, the two leaders focused primarily on the situation in Iran and the Persian Gulf, according to the Kremlin.

Putin viewed Trump's decision to extend the ceasefire with Iran as the right move, as it will help stabilize the situation, Ushakov said, adding that Putin drew attention to the inevitable, extremely dire consequences not only for Iran and its neighbors, but also for the entire international community should the United States and Israel resort to force again.

Russia remains firmly determined to fully support diplomatic efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement to the crisis, and has put forward a number of proposals intended to resolve differences over the Iranian nuclear program, said the presidential aide.

Ushakov noted that to this end, Moscow will maintain active contacts with Iranian representatives, leaders of Persian Gulf states, as well as with Israel and the U.S. negotiating team.

For his part, Trump also outlined his assessment of the Middle East situation to Putin.

Putin, Trump hold phone call on issues of Iran, Ukraine