SCO national coordinators discuss cooperation, visit CPC museum in Beijing

China

SCO national coordinators discuss cooperation, visit CPC museum in Beijing

2025-02-22 17:06 Last Updated At：02-23 01:47

The Council of National Coordinators of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states held a regular meeting in Beijing from Tuesday to Friday.

Representatives from all 10 member states, the SCO Secretariat, and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) Executive Committee were in attendance.

Chaired by China, the meeting covered over 20 topics related to political, diplomatic, economic, and cultural cooperation within the SCO framework. The discussions also included preparations for the upcoming SCO Summit.

During their stay, participants visited the Museum of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in Beijing.

The Council of National Coordinators is a key consultative mechanism within the SCO, tasked with implementing leaders' consensus and coordinating cooperation across various sectors.

Representatives expressed strong support for China's role as the rotating chair, pledging to collaborate in implementing leadership directives and advancing SCO cooperation.

"Besides our cooperation in security issues, we are also concentrating on economy, on trade, on industry. We see that it is playing a very active role in introducing new documents, in organizing new sessions and events. It shows that we are moving in the right direction," said Mehrdad Kiaei, Iran's national coordinator in the SCO Secretariat.

Enshrined in the SCO Charter is the concept of the Shanghai Spirit -- the set of values that underpins the organization and inspires solidarity toward the pursuit of a "community of shared future."

Sohail Khan, Deputy Secretary General of the SCO, said the concept has continued to guide discussions at the meeting.

"Shanghai Spirit means mutual equal ranks, mutual consultation, mutual respect, mutual thinking of each other to take into account, and this means that with the Shanghai Spirit, the integration will be more firm. The SCO will provide certainty, and it will also help to bring Global South together more and more," he said.

China officially assumed the rotating presidency of the organization for the 2024–2025 term at the SCO Summit in Astana in July last year.

As the chair, China will host the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State as well as over 100 meetings and events within the SCO framework. How China collaborates with member states to lead the organization into a new phase of high-quality development is a topic of great interest and anticipation.

"In a world fraught with turbulence and change, and after more than 20 years of development, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is undergoing a period of growth and transition. Ensuring the organization's sustainable development involves clarifying its functional positioning, expanding its membership, and reforming its institutional structure. At the upcoming summit, China is expected to propose more initiatives and recommendations to promote the SCO's sustainable growth. Concrete actions will be taken to foster regional development and strengthen cooperation among member states," said Ding Xiaoxing, Deputy Secretary-General of the Academic Committee at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization established on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its membership has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus.

Air-conditioned "rest stations" set up to provide respite as scorching heatwave grips China

Emergency measures are being put in place to help urban areas across China cope with sweltering daytime temperatures as a severe heatwave grips multiple regions of the country, with local community rest stations being set up to shield residents and provide much-needed respite to outdoor workers amid the scorching weather.

Large swathes of the country are baking as the summer heat takes hold. According to the Central Meteorological Observatory of China, eight of the top ten hottest areas nationwide on Wednesday were in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where Turpan and Toksun both recorded temperatures above 44.5 degrees Celsius.

The intense heat is unlikely to let up anytime soon, as Hami Meteorological Station has issued a red alert and is forecasting that temperatures in Hami City will exceed 40 degrees Celsius from Wednesday to Sunday.

In an effort to combat the heatwave, the local sanitation department has deployed multiple sprinkler and spray trucks to cover major roads in downtown Hami to help with dust suppression and road surface cooling, while upping the frequency of operations.

Persistent high temperatures have also affected many areas in the southwestern Sichuan Province, with some weather stations recording maximum highs exceeding 42 degrees Celsius and weather alerts being issued in numerous cities.

In Guang'an City, the mercury had already soared to 38 degrees Celsius by 10:00 Wednesday morning, pointing to a long, hot day ahead.

However, the county has opened nearly 350 'rest stations' to help local people escape the heat. These air-conditioned cooling points, equipped with fans, drinking water, emergency medicines, and seating, provide much-needed rest areas for outdoor workers such as delivery drivers and couriers, as well as to the elderly and other passersby.

"This round of high temperatures is characterized by its long duration, high temperatures, and the oppressive, muggy conditions, impacting outdoor workers and the elderly the most," said Yu Jilin, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group at the Wusheng County Federation of Trade Unions.

In the neighboring Chongqing Municipality, a red alert for high temperatures was issued on the same day.

At the exit of a busy highway in Wuxi County, heat waves shimmered on the road surface amid heavy traffic. Police officers on duty were busy checking vehicles under the scorching sun, focusing on any potential safety hazards in passenger and freight vehicles, while enduring the sizzling weather themselves.

"The main issue is the high temperature -- surface temperatures can reach over 50 degrees Celsius. Whenever we are on duty, the exhaust from passing fuel-powered vehicles feels scorching hot against our bodies," said Lin Xianyong, an auxiliary police officer.