China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday launched an economy development center in Zhengzhou City of central China's Henan Province to boot comprehensive cooperation between the two sides.
Guided by the principles of "open innovation, ecosystem-focused collaboration, cooperative development, and mutually beneficial outcomes,' the center will serve as a new platform for two-way open engagement and alignment between the two sides.
Being each other's largest trading partners for years, China and ASEAN will use the ASEAN-China Economy Development Center as a bond and trade as a bridge to further expand their collaboration areas, innovate their cooperation models as well as enhance the quality and effectiveness of their cooperation, so as to jointly write a new chapter of win-win and high-quality development.
In terms of industry cooperation, the emphasis will be placed on modern agriculture, and health and wellness tourism.
"Zhengzhou is a very important agricultural and logistic hub. So we hope that through the ASEAN-China Center and the leadership in Zhengzhou (City) can help promote Cambodian agricultural products," said Lim Lork Piseth, secretary of state of the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce.
This year marks the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the 35th anniversary of the establishment of dialogue relations between China and ASEAN.
Trade between the two sides has demonstrated strong resilience. In the first five months of 2026, their total trade value reached 3.52 trillion yuan (about 520 billion U.S. dollars), a year-on-year increase of 16.6 percent.
China, ASEAN launch economy development center to boost cooperation
U.S. stocks ended substantially lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve concluded its two-day policy meeting with a more hawkish outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 507.12 points, or 0.98 percent, to 51,492.55. The S&P 500 sank 91.25 points, or 1.21 percent, to 7,420.1. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 354.69 points, or 1.34 percent, to 26,021.66.
All 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed in negative territory, with communication services and consumer discretionary leading the declines at 2.98 percent and 2.69 percent, respectively. Industrials posted the smallest loss, down 0.12 percent.
At the conclusion of its first meeting under new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, the Fed left the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.5 to 3.75 percent as expected. "Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong," the statement read. "Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little."
However, Fed's updated Summary of Economic Projections showed a notably more hawkish shift, with the median estimate for the fed funds rate at year-end 2026 rising to 3.8 percent from 3.4 percent in March. Nine of 18 participants now project one possible rate hike this year, compared to none in the previous projections. Warsh abstained from submitting his own forecast.
"A clear hawkish shift from the Fed sees the committee split down the middle on whether they will hike rates or not this year," wrote James Knightley, chief international economist at ING. "Sharp energy price falls are good news though, and we think an extended pause is the most likely outcome."
The U.S. Treasury yields jumped following the decision, with the 2-year yield rising more than 16 basis points to as high as 4.216 percent at one point. The 2-year Treasury yield reached its highest level since January of last year, when U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
SpaceX fell for the first time since its public debut, declining nearly 5 percent and trimming earlier gains that had reached roughly 58 percent above the IPO price. Mega-cap technology stocks faced broad pressure, with all members of the "Magnificent Seven" falling at least 1 percent.
U.S. stocks sink after hawkish signals from Fed
