BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, which will be held in Tianjin Municipality in North China on August 31 and September 1, and host relevant events. Xi will chair the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO and the “SCO Plus” Meeting, and deliver keynote speeches, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on Friday.
Analysts believe that the summit is a landmark event with long-term strategic significance. Over the past two decades, the SCO has emerged as a vital force in maintaining regional and global stability. Building on this foundation, the expanding and deepening cooperation among SCO member states further demonstrates the organization’s vibrant vitality, they said.
During a press briefing on the summit’s preparations on Friday morning, China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said that the events in Tianjin mark China’s fifth time hosting the SCO Summit, and it will be the largest one in scale since the establishment of the organization, according to Xinhua.
President Xi will convene with leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organizations along the scenic banks of the Haihe River, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, which highlighted that the SCO Tianjin Summit stands as one of the most important head-of-state diplomacy and home-ground diplomacy events in China this year.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, foreign leaders invited to attend the summit include Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Additionally, the ministry announced that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn will participate as heads of international organizations and multilateral institutions, joining this momentous gathering, per Xinhua.
During the summit, President Xi will host a welcome banquet and bilateral events for participating leaders of countries and heads of international organizations, and engage in intensive bilateral activities to plan and advance bilateral relations between China and the participating nations, Liu said.
Since its establishment in 2001 with a focus on security cooperation, the SCO has expanded from six member states to 10 member states with two observer states and 14 dialogue partners, Xinhua reported. According to China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin on Friday, leaders attending the summit are expected to review the successful experiences of the SCO, outline a blueprint for its future development, forge a consensus for cooperation within the “SCO family”, and propel the organization toward the goal of building a closer community with a shared future.
In his keynote speeches at the above-mentioned two meetings, Xi will elaborate on China’s new vision and propositions for the SCO in carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit, shouldering the mission of the times, and responding to the people’s expectations, Liu said.
Xi will also announce new measures and initiatives by China to support high-quality development of the SCO and comprehensive cooperation, and propose new methods and pathways for the organization to constructively safeguard the post-WWII international order and improve the global governance system, Liu added.
According to the official, Xi will jointly sign and issue a declaration with leaders of other SCO member states, approve a development strategy of the SCO for the next 10 years, issue statements marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the 80th founding anniversary of the United Nations, and adopt a series of outcome documents on strengthening security, economic, people-to-people and cultural cooperation.
Zhu Yongbiao, the executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times on Friday that the Tianjin Summit is a landmark event of strategic significance, charting the course for the SCO’s development priorities and focus over the next decade. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
