Xi meets Colombian president in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Colombian President Gustavo Petro in Beijing on Wednesday.

Petro is in the Chinese capital to attend the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum.

Colombia is an important country in Latin America, and China has always viewed the development of the bilateral relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, Xi pointed out during the meeting.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Colombia diplomatic relations, Xi said that standing at a new historical starting point, China is willing to make joint efforts with Colombia to promote greater development of the strategic partnership between them and bring more benefits to the people of both countries.

The two sides should consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen strategic communication and firmly keep the development of their bilateral relations in the right direction, Xi said.

Taking Colombia's official accession to the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as an opportunity, the two countries should promote the quality improvement and upgrading of their cooperation, Xi said.

China is willing to import more high-quality products from Colombia, support Chinese enterprises in investing and doing business in Colombia, and participate in the country's infrastructure construction, Xi said, adding that the two sides can further expand cooperation in emerging fields such as wind power, new energy vehicles, digital economy and artificial intelligence, so as to jointly achieve green and low-carbon transformation.

Efforts should be made to hold celebration activities for the 45th anniversary of the diplomatic ties, strengthen cooperation in education, culture, tourism and other fields, enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and consolidate the public support for China-Colombia friendship, Xi said. China-Latin America cooperation is an important part of South-South cooperation. It conforms to the general trend of world development and historical trends, and is in the common interests of China and Latin American countries, Xi stressed during the meeting.

The successful fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum sent out a positive signal of seeking common development and rejuvenation to the world, Xi said, adding that Colombia had made important contributions to the successful holding of the meeting as CELAC's rotating chair.

China is willing to work with Colombia and other Latin American countries to further deepen and solidify the building of the China-Latin America community with a shared future, and bring more benefits to the people of China and Latin America. Petro said that Colombia and China enjoy a longstanding friendship, and that his country looks forward to further developing its relations with China.

The two countries should deepen political mutual trust, enhance mutual support, jointly advance Belt and Road cooperation, expand cooperation in areas such as trade, infrastructure, new energy and artificial intelligence, and improve people's lives, said the Colombian President.

At present, the international situation is complex and volatile, and the profit-oriented practices of individual countries are detrimental to the world, Petro said, adding that all countries should be united in dealing with them.

Colombia is willing to work closely with China to defend international fairness and justice, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, Petro said. After their meeting, the two heads of state witnessed the signing of a cooperation plan between the two governments on jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road.

Xi meets Colombian president in Beijing

Xi meets Colombian president in Beijing

Xi meets Colombian president in Beijing

Xi meets Colombian president in Beijing

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