Shanghai Spirit has opened a new page in the history

Over 2,500 years ago, Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher, had this to say: “What a joy to have friends coming from afar!” It is therefore of special significance that I host my distinguished guests in Shandong, the home province of Confucius, for a summit that will chart the future course for the SCO.

The SCO enjoys strong vitality and momentum of cooperation. This, in the final analysis, is attributed to the Shanghai Spirit, a creative vision initiated and followed through by the SCO that champions mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations and pursuit of common development. The Shanghai Spirit, transcending outdated concepts such as clash of civilisations, Cold War and zero-sum mentality, has opened a new page in the history of international relations and gained increasing endorsement of the international community.

At a time when the world is undergoing major developments, transformation and adjustment, we must aim high and look far, and keep pace with the underlying trend of both the world and our times to push for more progress of human civilisation.

While hegemony and power politics still persist in this world, the growing call for a more just and equitable international order must be heeded. While various traditional and non-traditional security threats keep emerging, the force for peace will prevail, for security and stability are what people long for. While unilateralism, trade protectionism and backlash against globalisation are taking new forms, in this global village of ours where countries’ interests and future are so interconnected, the pursuit of cooperation for mutual benefit represents a surging trend. While we keep hearing such rhetoric as the clash of civilisations or the superiority of one civilisation over another, it is the diversity of civilisations that sustains human progress.

The world today faces both opportunities and challenges. The road ahead, bumpy as it may be, will lead to a promising future. We should stay committed to the Shanghai Spirit, surmount difficulties, defuse risks and meet challenges head on.

We should uphold innovative, coordinated, green, open and inclusive development, achieve coordinated social and economic progress of various countries and resolve issues caused by unbalanced development.

We should reject the Cold War mentality and confrontation between blocs and oppose the practices of seeking absolute security of oneself at the expense of others, so as to achieve security of all.

We should promote open and inclusive cooperation for win-win outcomes.

We should champion equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness between civilisations.

We should follow the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in engaging in global governance.

We should, guided by the Shanghai Spirit, work closely to build an SCO community with a shared future, move toward a new type of international relations, and build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world. To this end, I would like to propose the following:

First, we need to build up strength of unity and mutual trust. We should ensure full implementation of the Qingdao Declaration, the Outline for the Implementation of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and other documents. We should enhance mutual understanding by putting ourselves in others’ positions and boost harmony and unity by seeking common ground and setting aside differences.

Second, we need to strengthen the foundation for shared peace and security. We need to actively implement the 2019-2021 program of cooperation for combating “three evil forces” of terrorism, separatism and extremism, continue to conduct the “Peace Mission” and other joint counter-terrorism exercises, and enhance cooperation on defence security, law enforcement security and information security. We need to give full play to the role of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group to facilitate peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan.

Third, we need to build a powerful engine to achieve common development and prosperity. We should increase complementarily of our respective development strategies, continue to advance the Belt and Road cooperation under the principle of delivering shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution, accelerate regional trade facilitation, and step up the implementation of the Agreement on International Road Transport Facilitation and other cooperation documents. China will welcome all parties to the first China International Import Expo to be held in Shanghai in November this year. The Chinese government supports building a demonstration area in Qingdao for China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation. In this connection, I hereby announce that China will set up an RMB 30 billion equivalent special lending facility within the framework of the SCO Inter-bank Consortium.

Fourth, we need to forge closer ties through cultural and people-to-people exchanges. We should actively implement the outline for environmental protection cooperation and other documents, ensure the continued success of such well-recognised programs as the youth exchange camp, and secure solid progress in cooperation in education, science and technology, culture, tourism, health, disaster relief and media. In the next three years, China will provide 3,000 training opportunities of human resources development for SCO member states to enhance public understanding of and support for the SCO family. China offers to provide meteorological services to all parties using its Fengyun2 weather satellites.

Fifth, we need to expand partnership networks of international cooperation. By intensifying exchanges and cooperation with SCO observer states, dialogue partners, and other countries in our region, by enhancing partnerships with the United Nations and other international and regional organisations, and by engaging in dialogue with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other international financial institutions, we can contribute our share to resolving hotspot issues and improving global governance.

Edited excerpt from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at Quingdao, China, June 10