South Africa to strengthen green economy cooperation with China: vice president

South Africa expects more and deeper green economy cooperation with China, said the country's vice president Paul Mashatile when attending the ongoing third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing.

Mashatile led a high-profile delegation with five ministers of South Africa and representatives from more than 40 South African companies to the event, as the country is making its debut to the CISCE this year.

"As many of you may be aware, trade between South Africa and China has been growing. We see the expo as a very good opportunity to give South African companies a platform to showcase their products and services, but also as a platform where they can create partnerships with other businesspeople here in China," he said.

At a press conference held on the sidelines of the expo, Mashatile shared his expectations on China-South Africa cooperation in possible sectors in the future, highlighting the green economy as the core.

"We've indicated to the Chinese businesses that a lot of opportunities in South Africa, in sectors like energy, mining, minerals, infrastructure, and logistics, water, and sanitation, tourism, particularly with our focus on the green economy," he said.

Paul Mashatile stated at the press conference that the Global South countries should cooperate more closely amid rising protectionism from the West.

"We are now beginning to export more agricultural goods to China. and we will be exporting more goods to the Chinese market. All the countries of the Global South must be part of of this cooperation," he said.

As the world's first exhibition with the theme of supply chain, CISCE aims to connect upstream, midstream and downstream sectors, bring together large, medium-sized and small enterprises, coordinate industry, academia, research, and practical application, and foster interaction between Chinese and international businesses.

It serves four significant functions of promoting trade, fostering investment cooperation, aggregating innovation, and encouraging learning and exchange.

The 3rd CISCE runs from July 16 to 20, at the China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi Venue) in Beijing.

South Africa to strengthen green economy cooperation with China: vice president

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