Nurlan Yermekbayev, secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), has highly commented on the Global Governance Initiative proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, highlighting its profound significance and strong alignment with the core values of the Shanghai Spirit.
Yermekbayev made the remarks in a recent interview with China Media Group in Beijing ahead of the 2026 SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek.
"I believe that the Global Governance Initiative proposed by his excellency President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China is highly significant, immensely far-reaching and exceptionally timely. For us, it is both noteworthy and important that the initiative was first proposed at the 'SCO Plus' Meeting during the SCO Tianjin Summit (in 2025). The principles, values and goals of the Global Governance Initiative closely align in many respects with those of the SCO and the Shanghai Spirit," said Yermekbayev.
The Shanghai Spirit features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development.
Guided by the spirit, the SCO has expanded from six founding members to a 27-nation family, making it a comprehensive regional organization with the widest geographical coverage, largest population and enormous development potential.
"The Global Governance Initiative emphasizes equality and puts people in the first place. In my view, a people-centered approach lies at its heart: People, together with their interests, lives and health, are placed front and center. The SCO follows the same approach. It consistently upholds equality, dialogue, consultation, mutual respect and respect for the diversity of civilizations, while pursuing the goal of common development. That is why the SCO member states have expressed their support for this initiative. We are now advancing the SCO's development under the guidance of the Shanghai Spirit, which, as I have said, is closely aligned with the initiative," said Yermekbayev.
Global Governance Initiative resonates deeply with Shanghai Spirit: secretary-general
New Zealand's ruling National-led coalition has secured a parliamentary majority in the general election, preliminary results showed early Sunday, putting Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on course to retain power for a second term.
The Election Commission's tally of all voting places has resulted in 11 "overhang" seats, increasing to 131 the total number of seats in parliament, which normally has 120.
Among the seats, the National Party, ACT New Zealand and New Zealand First collectively secured 67, giving the three-party coalition a narrow majority to continue governing, while the opposition bloc of the Labor Party, the Green Party and the Maori Party garnered 57 in total.
The contest between the National and the Labor, led by former prime minister Chris Hipkins, remained exceptionally close, with each securing over 29 percent, according to preliminary figures.
Addressing supporters in Auckland, Luxon said the election was "too close to call," with the final outcome hinging on special votes to be counted. He acknowledged that negotiations and compromise would be needed to form the next government.
The outcome could still change when 700,000 special votes are counted days later. These include ballots cast by overseas voters and people voting outside their electorates, and are not included in the preliminary results, according to the Electoral Commission, which is scheduled to release the final official results, including special votes, on Nov. 27.
The Green Party has won a record 16 seats in parliament. The centrist Opportunity Party has also made a parliamentary breakthrough, projected to win seven seats, preliminary results showed.
The country has nearly 3.8 million provisionally enrolled voters for the 2026 general election, representing 93.6 percent of the estimated eligible population, below the final enrolment rates of 94.7 percent in 2023 and 94.1 percent in 2020, the commission said.
New Zealand uses the mixed-member proportional voting system to elect its parliament. Under this system, voters cast two ballots, one for a political party and another for their local electorate candidate. The government is usually formed by two or more parliamentary political parties.
New Zealand's National-led coalition wins majority parliamentary seats: preliminary results
