The summit will also involve the heads of ten international organizations, including United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Commonwealth of Independent States Secretary General Sergey Lebedev
TIANJIN, August 31. /TASS/. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) summit will kick off in China's northern city of Tianjin on Sunday.
The event will bring together the leaders of over 20 countries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin, the summit will be the largest event in the organization's history. The diplomat noted that the meeting's participants planned to assess the SCO's activities, set the course for the organizations' further development, and enhance solidarity and consensus on key issues on the international agenda.
Apart from the leaders of SCO member states and some other nations, the summit will also involve the heads of ten international organizations, including United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Secretary General Sergey Lebedev, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn.
Russian Ambassador to China Igor Morgulov pointed out that the SCO did not press anyone to choose sides, nor did it seek to impose its opinions on others; and its activities weren't directed against third countries. According to the Russian envoy, the organization's attractiveness is based on its pursuit of the principles of equality, consensus, mutual trust, balanced interests, mutual benefit, and respect for cultural diversity, as well as on member states' determination to avoid hostile actions against each other. Morgulov highlighted Moscow's readiness to work together with Beijing to strengthen the organization's authority across the world.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry noted that the Tianjin summit would be one of the most important diplomatic events in China in 2025. According to the event's program, Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and an SCO Plus meeting, where he will deliver addresses.
The Chinese leader is expected to clarify Beijing's position on the organizations' further development given the changes that are taking place in the world. In addition, he will speak about new measures aimed at supporting high-quality development and deepening comprehensive cooperation within the SCO, and will also propose additional methods to ensure meaningful cooperation in order to maintain the international order established after World War II and improve the system of global governance.
The Tianjin Declaration is expected to be signed at the summit. The leaders of SCO member states will also approve the 2035 SCO development strategy.
A number of bilateral events are going to take place on the sidelines of the summit. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that the summit's participants would adopt a number of documents on strengthening defense, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation. They will also consider initiatives aimed at supporting a multilateral trading system, countering extremist ideas, and boosting cooperation in transport, the energy sector, digitalization efforts, green development, artificial intelligence and scientific innovations.
Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin emphasized that the SCO's mechanism of cooperation had improved in the years since its foundation, and cooperation between its members had proved highly productive in a number of fields. This is why, in his words, the organization's international influence is steadily growing.
Liu noted that the SCO had turned into an important power in terms of building a new type of international relations based on the principles of equality and justice. The organization's popularity is rising among an increasing number of countries who may become its new members or partners to "make a positive contribution to the multipolar world order."
Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Ling Ji stated that the SCO was demonstrating "a high level of sustainability and viability in terms of regional and economic cooperation," pursuing the principles of equality, mutual respect, mutual benefit, openness and tolerance. He noted that in 2024, trade between China and SCO members had grown by 2.7%, reaching an all-time high of $512.4 billion.
The official stressed that China also sought to deepen cooperation with the SCO nations through bilateral agreements.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was founded in the Chinese city of Shanghai on June 15, 2001. The six founding members were Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined the organization in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023 and Belarus in 2024.