BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State (CHS) of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is expected to promote the development of the SCO and enhance China’s relations with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
Since its founding in 2001, the SCO, the first inter-governmental organization named after Shianghai, a Chinese city, has had an extraordinary journey. After 21 years, the organization, now with eight full members, four observer countries and multiple dialogue partners, has become not only a strong pillar of global peace and development, but also a major force for international equity and justice.
Within the framework of the SCO, countries have supported each other on issues concerning their respective core interests and major concerns. Together, they have fought against terrorism, separatism and extremism, and taken tough actions to curb the spread of drug trafficking, cybercrime and transnational organized crime. People-to-people programs such as art festivals, the SCO University and the SCO Forum on Traditional Medicine have been launched.
With such fruitful achievements, the SCO has grown into the world’s largest and most populous regional institution, and it has endeavored to explore new ground, both theoretically and with actual steps, with a view to building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
Practices over the years have shown that the values embodied and advocated by the Shanghai Spirit have been fully recognized by the member states, said Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the SCO.
As this year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the SCO Charter and the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of the SCO Member States, global attention has been placed on the upcoming Samarkand Summit of the SCO, where Xi and other leaders will discuss how to jointly address global challenges and promote security and development.
In fact, as a founding member of the SCO, China has been committed to promoting a sound development of the organization. Since 2013, President Xi has put forward a series of initiatives while participating in the SCO summits, which have enriched the Shanghai Spirit.
Xi’s remarks have summarized the SCO’s practices, and adequately met the needs of regional governance and the requirements of the organization’s development, said Deng Hao, secretary-general of the China Center for SCO Studies.
As the world is witnessing profound changes, especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chinese leader has proposed the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, which have been widely recognized by the international community, including SCO countries.
China’s efforts to promote SCO development in economic and trade, as well as in other areas including health and poverty alleviation have benefited people in different countries.
Within the framework of the SCO, the member states are witnessing significant economic development, great improvement in people’s lives and closer relations with each other, which has attracted countries outside the organization, Zhang, secretary-general of the SCO, said.
Last year, the SCO launched procedures to admit Iran as a full member state. Moreover, it has granted dialogue partner status to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar.
Committed to true multilateralism, the SCO has always opposed hegemonic, domineering and bullying acts, and will never attempt the forming of cliques.
To translate true multilateralism into practice, the organization has been making full use of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group and actively cooperating with such international and regional organizations as the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
It has also been promoting synergy between the Belt and Road cooperation and the development strategies of various countries and regional cooperation initiatives such as the Eurasian Economic Union.
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