French energy company upbeat about investment outlook in China

Air Liquide, a France-based multinational company engaged in industrial gases, views the Chinese market from a long-term perspective and believes that it can play a role in China's innovation-led economic growth, said Rui Coelho, CEO of Air Liquide China, on Thursday.

Coelho told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, that China's large and still-growing economy means there are a lot of opportunities to grow in the long run for multinational firms including Air Liquide.

As China continues to unleash new quality productive forces and shift to an innovation-led economic growth model, Air Liquide looks forward to playing a role in the country's green transition, he said.

"We [have been present] in China for more than 35 years, and we have a long-term perspective on China. Now it's more 4 to 5 percent growth. We still see under a large economy, lots of opportunities continue to grow. And Air Liquide continues to invest and believe in the long-term growth of China. High-quality productive forces still present lots of opportunities in high-end technology, and Air Liquide can play a role in that, such as energy transition and reducing carbon emissions," he said.

The interview took place on the sidelines of the sixth Qingdao Multinationals Summit (QMS), which held its opening ceremony on Thursday under the theme "Multinationals and China: Connecting the World for Win-Win Cooperation." Air Liquide was among the more than 460 multinational companies from 43 countries and regions participating in the three-day event.

Coelho highlighted the need for Air Liquide to engage with not only other global multinationals, but also the local government of Shandong which he says plays a key part in facilitating these enterprises' investment in China.

"I think the summit is an excellent opportunity to meet counterparts, [including not only] other business partners, but also local government which is a key element supporting our current investment in China. I think my expectation is to leave here with more ideas for investment that I came with. So, I think it's by talking to people, meeting counterparts that we get these new ideas, and we earn trust between businesses and local government," he said.

This year's Qingdao Multinationals Summit, co-sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Shandong Provincial People's Government, concludes on Friday.

French energy company upbeat about investment outlook in China

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