Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday put forward a four-point proposal at the 26th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.
In his speech at the summit, Xi said this year marks the 25th founding anniversary of the SCO. He pointed out that 25 years ago, safeguarding sovereignty, security and development interests became a shared consensus among countries in the region in the face of the profound lessons of the Cold War, the real threat posed by the "three evil forces," as well as the strong aspirations of people in various countries for peace and development.
The SCO thus emerged, and the organization has increasingly demonstrated its strong vitality and dynamism, Xi added.
Over the past 25 years, the SCO has gone through an extraordinary journey, Xi said, noting that its most significant achievement has been its gradual transformation into a new type of regional cooperation organization that spans the largest geographical area, represents the largest population, and possesses enormous development potential in the world.
The SCO's most valuable spiritual asset is the pioneering proposal and steadfast adherence to the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development, he said.
The SCO's most important experience for cooperation is that it has found the right way of coexistence featuring non-alliances, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, while bringing countries in the region together to build a common home, he added.
Xi said that 25 years on, as profound changes unseen in a century are accelerating, the rivalry is intensifying between dialogue and confrontation, win-win cooperation and zero-sum, and multilateralism and unilateralism, and the shadow of war continues to haunt the world.
At the crossroads concerning the future of humanity, the SCO should shoulder its historic responsibility and take the initiative in steering the course of history, he said.
To this end, Xi put forward a four-point proposal.
First, Xi called on the SCO to stay committed to putting development first, and open up the prospects for shared prosperity.
The SCO, Xi said, should champion a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, consolidate cooperation in traditional areas such as trade and investment, connectivity, energy and resources, and expand cooperation in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, green industry and green mining.
China sees the SCO as a priority area for the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road and implementation of the Global Development Initiative, and will continue to host events such as the SCO Digital Economy Forum and the SCO Agricultural Expo, Xi said.
China will also establish an international cooperation center on AI applications for SCO countries, set up a China-SCO port economy cooperation center in Tianjin, and jointly implement 100 technological cooperation projects with SCO countries over the next three years, Xi added.
Second, Xi urged the SCO to stay committed to taking security as a key goal, and foster an environment of common security.
The SCO should coordinate to counter traditional and non-traditional security threats, combat the "three evil forces," transnational organized crime, drug trafficking and telecommunications fraud, strengthen cooperation on information security, bio-security and outer space security, and prevent external forces from interfering in the internal affairs, endangering political security and undermining regional stability, Xi noted.
Xi said China stands ready to work with all parties to act on the vision of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and build the SCO into an important platform for implementing the Global Security Initiative.
China supports the early opening of the SCO's "four security centers" so as to enhance the capacity of member countries to address security threats and challenges, Xi said.
Third, Xi called on the grouping to put people first, and cement the foundation for everlasting friendship.
The SCO should take into account the characteristics of each member state's history, culture, social system and development stage, build cooperation networks between legislatures, political parties, schools, think tanks, enterprises and media, promote people-to-people exchanges, and inject vitality into the good-neighborliness and friendship among member states, he said.
China is willing to work with all parties to implement the Global Civilization Initiative, and supports a greater role of the SCO Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission and other organizations of friendly people-to-people exchanges, Xi said.
The Chinese side will set up a China-SCO basic education cooperation center, and continue to build bridges for exchanges and mutual learning as well as people-to-people connectivity through such programs as Confucius Institutes and Luban Workshops, he added.
Fourth, Xi urged the SCO to promote dialogue and consultation, and strive for more equitable and orderly governance.
He stressed that the SCO should always advocate that all countries, regardless of their size, are equal, and that regional affairs should be discussed by all countries to bridge differences and build consensus. The SCO should properly handle differences through dialogue and consultation, and meet common challenges through multilateral coordination.
China supports the SCO in setting an example in cooperation to implement the Global Governance Initiative, Xi said, calling for continued efforts to improve the SCO's operational mechanisms, and enhance the efficiency of its decision-making and execution.
More like-minded countries are welcome to become SCO partners to join the effort to improve regional and global governance, he said.
Xi stressed that China is ready to work with all parties to continue to uphold the banner of the "Shanghai Spirit," implement the SCO's development strategy for the next decade, strive for higher quality development, and make greater contributions to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
Leaders of member states fully affirmed the achievements the SCO has made in the past 25 years, and recognized that the SCO has provided important guarantee for regional security and prosperity and has become one of the cornerstones of global stability and economic development.
All parties expressed appreciation for China's important contribution to the organization's development as a founding member, and agreed to actively implement the strategic vision set out at the 2025 Tianjin summit, continue to uphold the Shanghai Spirit, promote institution-building, enhance political mutual trust, deepen cooperation in areas including trade, investment, science and technology, energy, finance, industrial and supply chains, and connectivity, strengthen people-to-people bonds, jointly respond to new types of security challenges, with a view to writing a new chapter of lasting peace and common development. In the face of a complex and volatile international situation, SCO member states should embrace solidarity and cooperation, enhance the influence of SCO, promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system, and play a greater role in safeguarding peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond.
Leaders of the member states signed and issued the Bishkek Declaration, approved the protocol on amendments and additions to the SCO Charter, the regulations on the SCO Universal Center for Countering Security Challenges and Threats and the regulations on the SCO Anti-drug Center, and adopted 28 outcome documents covering such areas as security, economic and people-to-people cooperation, and organizational development.
The meeting decided that Pakistan will assume the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2026-2027.
Xi puts forward four-point proposal at SCO Bishkek summit
