Observer | The Shanghai Cooperation Organization shoulders a heavy responsibility
In July this year, the SCO Heads of State Council will be held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. After 23 years of joint efforts, the SCO has become a security barrier, a bridge of cooperation, a bond of friendship and a constructive force in the region.
According to the memorandum signed at the SCO summit last year, Belarus will join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a formal member at the Astana summit. With this, the number of SCO member states will reach double digits. This expansion will be a "historic breakthrough", indicating that the SCO is gradually becoming the most influential regional international organization. With the large-scale expansion of the SCO, the economic complementarity between member states will be significantly enhanced, and the potential and awareness of cooperation will continue to increase.
Looking back, the SCO has made remarkable achievements in the past 23 years. First, the level of political and security mutual trust has been upgraded and continuously improved. The SCO has established the "Shanghai Spirit" since its inception, and the "Shanghai Spirit" is the fundamental guideline for the SCO's continuous development and growth. Today, all countries follow the signed "Treaty on Long-term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation among SCO Member States", strengthen political mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and take responsibility for promoting regional prosperity and stability.
Second, economic and trade interactions have promoted the continuous expansion of the SCO's economic scale and development level. It is reported that the total GDP of the SCO countries has exceeded 20 trillion US dollars, and China's investment in SCO member states has continuously set new records. As of mid-2022, China's direct investment in member states is 37.5 billion US dollars, and China has issued loans of 150 billion US dollars in the SCO Bank Union. In the six years since its establishment, the Qingdao SCO Economic and Trade Demonstration Zone has imported and exported 21.34 billion yuan to SCO countries, an annual increase of 77%. The level of trade facilitation between China and other member states has been greatly improved. The "SCO Express" of the China-Europe Express, as a "steel camel caravan", has continuously brought a wide variety of goods and various business opportunities to countries along the route.
Third, the SCO continues to expand new areas, and new elements are constantly integrated into the "SCO family". Medical cooperation has become a bridge of cooperation for China and other SCO member states to enhance friendship in the post-epidemic era. In early May 2024, the Astana branch of the "China-Kazakhstan Traditional Medicine Center" began trial operation, and more and more people in member states began to understand Chinese medicine. Today, China has successively held a series of actions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Traditional Medicine Forum, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Medical Cooperation Development Conference and the "SCO Health Express International Light Tour", continuously raising the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's cooperation in global health governance, biosecurity and traditional medicine to a new level.
Fourth, in the field of humanities, the SCO has continuously conveyed the friendship and dreams full of SCO warmth. Today, the SCO has formed nearly 10 ministerial meeting mechanisms, and cooperation at all levels has enhanced the enthusiasm of young people and their positive attitude towards life. There are more than 800 million young people living in the SCO region, and they are an important force for the development and progress of the entire region. Since its establishment, the SCO Youth Council has held more than 300 events and promoted the implementation of a large number of youth cooperation projects. These meaningful activities have enabled young people from SCO countries to communicate more widely and continuously sublimate the friendship of the SCO.
Fifth, the SCO's transportation network is constantly improving, and regional connectivity has become a reality. The SCO has adopted many important transportation cooperation documents, aiming to achieve barrier-free circulation of goods, services and capital, improve the safety of freight and passenger transport, and reduce the impact of transportation on the environment. Although global trade protectionism is rising simultaneously, regional supply chain cooperation and transportation and logistics systems among SCO member states are still being strengthened. The China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will be put into construction in October this year, the China-Kazakhstan transportation network will be expanded, and the Air Silk Road is being planned. In the future, the SCO will build a three-dimensional Eurasian transportation network to improve the quality and upgrade the development momentum of the organization.
After the Astana Summit, China will become the rotating chair of the SCO. China will certainly consolidate the primary goal of solidarity and mutual trust and promote consultation and communication among member states. Secondly, the SCO must also reflect its focus on pragmatic cooperation, continuously implement global development initiatives, focus on new energy, modern agriculture, efficient finance, interconnection, digital economy, medical and health care, maintain the stability of the regional industrial chain and supply chain, and ensure the safety of transportation channels.
At present, the global and regional governance systems are facing a critical stage of reshaping. The SCO, which has gone through 23 years of history, will continue to follow the "Shanghai Spirit", participate in and handle regional and international affairs with a broader vision, and make unique contributions to regional stability and development.
