Cultural exchange event held in Rome to celebrate 55th anniversary of China-Italy diplomatic ties

The China Media Group (CMG) held a cultural exchange event in Rome, Italy on Wednesday to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy.

Over 200 guests from the fields of politics, economics, art, sports, media, and film from both China and Italy attended the event.

The Chinese Film Week in Italy 2025 was launched at the event, showcasing nine selected films that highlight the richness and artistic depth of contemporary Chinese filmmaking to Italian audiences.

In order to further enhance the level of cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, CMG and several mainstream Italian media and related institutions have initiated a number of practical cooperation projects in areas such as sports event broadcasting and reporting, joint production of film and television programs, establishing friendly ties between World Heritage sites, technological exchanges, industrial cooperation and talent cultivation.

As a rights-holding broadcaster for the Winter Olympics in 2026, CMG will be responsible for producing international public signals for events such as figure skating and short track speed skating. It is the only media organization in the world producing 8K ultra-high-definition content for the Milano Cortina Winter Games.

The CMG will cooperate with the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee to create a documentary titled "An Encounter with Milan", which will tell Italy's sports stories, Olympic stories, and cultural narratives. CMG will also air high-quality programs related to the Winter Olympics, providing global audiences with a comprehensive view of the event.

Cultural exchange event held in Rome to celebrate 55th anniversary of China-Italy diplomatic ties

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