Chinese vice premier highlights China-Belarus subnational cooperation

Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong on Wednesday said that subnational cooperation constitutes an important component of China-Belarus relations when addressing the China-Belarus subnational cooperation forum in Gansu Province via video link.

Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that in recent years, the two countries have seen increasingly vibrant subnational exchanges, a growing number of sister-city ties, expanding cooperation areas and fruitful outcomes.

Noting that China and Belarus share highly-aligned development strategies and well-aligned cooperation needs, Liu said high-quality Belt and Road cooperation has unlocked new development opportunities for both countries and built a broad platform for subnational collaboration.

Liu put forward three proposals. Firstly, both sides should take industrial integration as the driving force, give full play to the role of the industrial park to foster new growth drivers for cooperation.

Secondly, both sides should take people-to-people and cultural exchanges as a bond to strengthen collaboration in education, healthcare, culture, tourism, youth affairs and other fields, Liu said.

Thirdly, Liu urged both sides to bolster mechanism building, leverage the China-Belarus Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee, and encourage more Chinese provincial-level regions and Belarusian regions to deepen cooperation.

Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov attended the opening ceremony of the forum in person and delivered a speech.

Chinese vice premier highlights China-Belarus subnational cooperation

U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh said on Wednesday that "prices are too high" in the United States, reiterating the Fed's commitment to restoring price stability.

Speaking at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal, Warsh declined to say whether the Fed would raise interest rates at its July policy meeting. He said the central bank would "chart a new course" in conducting monetary policy, but gave no further details. He also stressed that the Fed would not provide forward guidance on future interest rate decisions.

Warsh said the Federal Reserve is establishing a number of task forces to review issues including monetary policy communications, economic data, productivity, inflation frameworks and balance sheet policy. He said reforms should be pursued if the current policy framework hinders effective policymaking.

U.S. Fed chair signals "new course" in monetary policy as prices remain "too high"