Xi to chair SCO summit in Qingdao

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit scheduled from June 9 to 10 in Qingdao, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced on Monday.

Leaders from the eight-nation bloc will exchange opinions, forge a consensus and coordinate actions, boosting the SCO’s role in regional peace and development, Wang said at a press conference on Monday in Beijing.

The leaders are also expected to sign the Qingdao Declaration and documents that feature economic, people-topeople and security cooperation among SCO countries.

A focus of this year’s summit will be measures dealing with the “three evil forces,” namely terrorism, extremism and separatism, as well as combating drug trafficking and cyber crimes, all of which have been a priority of SCO

members, Wang said.

Safeguarding regional security has been a priority of the SCO since its inception, which makes the bloc the “axis” that ensures the stability of Eurasian countries, said Gao Fei, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University.

While Central and South Asia still face serious security challenges, the bloc’s joint efforts are expected to help ensure a sound environment for development, said Li Yongquan, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The summit to be held in Qingdao will also focus on global governance and multilateral trade systems to create a more favorable environment for the economic development of member nations, said Wang.

As the US has become a powerful “destroyer” of the free trade order and the world’s peace and stability are challenged by a severe wave of antiglobalization, it’s important to highlight and promote multilateralism and free trade during the summit, Gao said.

Choosing Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province, as the host city also shows China’s determination to further open up, he noted.

The port city is one of China’s first coastal cities to open to the world. In 2017, trade between Qingdao and SCO countries reached $5.82 billion, a 12.5 percent increase year-on-year, Zhang Jiangting, Party chief of Qingdao, said at the Monday press conference.

Sites for the summit are already available for use and the press center can accommodate more than 3,000 people, said Zhang. The coastal city has also enhanced security measures for the summit, and preparations are being made so as to not disturb local people’s daily lives.

The Belt and Road

The summit will be the first since the SCO expanded to include India and Pakistan in 2017, increasing opportunities to build trust for multilateral cooperation, said analysts.

For instance, as India increases understanding and mutual trust with bloc member states, the country will change its perception of the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and play a more positive role in the future, said Li.

Cooperation with SCO countries, all of which are situated along the Belt and Road route, are critical for the success of the initiative, Gao noted.

The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001, with China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as founding members.

With the inclusion of India and Pakistan, the SCO members now account for more than 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass, nearly half of the world’s population and over 20 percent of global GDP.

As international order continues to be challenged by the US and faces great uncertainty, it is the joint mission and responsibility of major powers like China and Russia to promote peace and prosperity, Gao said.