SCO gaining stature as major player on intl stage

Foreign ministers of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization gathered earlier this month in Goa, India, at a critical moment in history for a meeting that truly depicted global dynamics.

Among three issues that stood out, the Russia-Ukraine conflict comes first. Although the situation could get worse before de-escalation is achieved, the meeting echoed China’s stance in pushing for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Although some powers led by the United States do not seem to be in a mood to end the crisis, but rather choose to engage in deliberate attempts to drag the world into “World War III”, the SCO foreign ministers are creating better conditions to enable a satisfactory settlement via dialogue.

Second, the de-dollarization drive has intensified economic competition among major powers.

Weaponization of the US dollar and the Western financial system are catalyzing the momentum. The majority of world economies are fed up with the merciless use of the dollar to penalize countries that do not bow down to US power. Cuba has been one of the worst victims of this policy for decades. Iraq, Libya and Syria have been destroyed through imposition of wars and sanctions, while the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran and Venezuela have faced prolonged sanctions.

As unilateral sanctions have destroyed economies and compelled millions of common citizens to live in miserable conditions, including shortages of food and medicine, the SCO foreign ministers again raised their voice against unilateralism, protectionism and power politics.

Moves by the US-led Group of Seven are compelling emerging economies and the developing world to look for better alternatives.

Xi noted that Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are among the major driving forces of the country’s highquality growth and are home to numerous first-class universities and talent for high-end research.

It is necessary to strengthen innovation and industrial coordination in the region in order to set an example for realizing great selfreliance and strength in science and technology, he said.

Xi said the ultimate purpose of promoting the coordinated development of the Beijing-TianjinHebei region is to improve people’s well-being and facilitate common prosperity.

Beijing’s edge in sci-tech innovation should be combined with Tianjin’s strength in advanced manufacturing research and development to make breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, he said, adding that the two cities should help Hebei to better accommodate industries transferred from the two cities.

The symposium was held after Xi went to Cangzhou and Shijiazhuang in Hebei from Thursday to Friday, where he visited the countryside and other areas including a port and a research institute.

Xi made an inspection tour to Xiong’an New Area on Wednesday and called for efforts to firm up confidence and maintain resolve while taking solid steps to continuously achieve new progress in developing the “city of the future”.

On April 1, 2017, China announced the plan to set up Xiong’an New Area, which is situated approximately 100 km southwest of Beijing. The goal, according to authorities, is to develop the area to a level comparable to that of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area.

Xi has been personally involved in making decisions and plans to develop Xiong’an. In the past six years, he visited the area two other times in 2017 and 2019.

Wu Yiqing, vice-president of Hebei University of Economics and Business, suggested that the region should focus on digitalization, automobiles and materials, in building world-class industrial chains. The region should strive to become an advanced manufacturing cluster with international competitiveness, Wu said.

Zhang Gui, secretary general of Nankai University’s Institute for Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, told People’s Daily that efforts should be made to explore the establishment of a cross-region system for quality public services by promoting the extension of such resources to Hebei from Beijing and Tianjin.

To achieve this, policies and measures related to healthcare services, housing and employment should be refined, Zhang said.