Experts hail SCO in COVID battle

BEIJING (Xinhua) — Experts spoke highly of the concerted ef forts of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in fighting COVID-19.

This followed a virtual session of the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of SCO member states in which leaders pledged further efforts on vaccine and medicine cooperation and post-pandemic economic recovery.

Attending the session via video link in Beijing Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said as COVID-19 is still ravaging the world, it is "imperative that we expedite cooperation on the research and development of vaccines and drugs."

He also promised that COVID-19 vaccines, when developed and deployed in China, will be made a global public good. "This will be China's contribution to ensuring vaccine accessibility and affordability."

2001 birth

The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as full members in 2017.

Deng Hao, secretary general of the China Center for Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, said the COVID-19 pandemic has posed multiple challenges to the SCO members, but it also served as an "adhesive" to bind the member states together as all focused on the same task.