SCO enjoys bright future: secretary-general

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 13, 2004

SCO enjoys bright future: secretary-general

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In Beijing's bustling northeastern area stands an inconspicuous lemon-yellow building. On Thursday, this quiet place will become the office of the secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and Zhang Deguang will beits head for the next three years.

Zhang, the SCO's first secretary-general, on Tuesday outlined the development of the international organization and the secretariat.

Founded in June 2001, the SCO groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, a total area of 30 million square kilometers, or three-fifths of Eurasia, and a population of1.455 billion, a quarter of the world's people.

Zhang said that since 1996 when state heads from China, Russia,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed an agreement to enhance mutual trust in the military field along their borders, the SCO has seen substantial progress.

It had evolved from the original Shanghai Five, and the member states had expanded cooperation from confidence-building to politics, security, diplomacy, trade and economy.

SCO member countries had developed the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect of different civilizations and pursuit of common development, Zhang said.

Following the 2001 summit which saw the establishment of the SCO, the state heads met again in St. Petersburg, Russia, in June 2002, and signed the Charter for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, signaling the formal establishment of the organization in line with international law. Then at the Moscow summit in May 2003, the leaders decided to set up a secretariat and Zhang was appointed the first secretary-general.

"For years, I've been working in the bilateral diplomatic field,and all of a sudden, I am dealing with multilateral affairs. That's really something of a challenge for me," Zhang said.

He was appointed at the SCO's summit meeting, and will be takenin turn by people from the member states in the Russian alphabeticorder. Every term will last three years and a secretary-general who has served his term cannot be reappointed.

Zhang said selection of the candidate was very strict. He or she had to have worked in the diplomatic field for over 15 years, and know Russian well. The candidate was recommended by the SCO's foreign ministers' meeting and approved by the summit meeting.

"I love the job and am ready to give it my wisdom and experience," said Zhang, a former Chinese deputy foreign minister and former ambassador to Russia.

He said the "Shanghai Spirit" as advocated by the SCO had shaken off the "Cold War" mentality and conformed to the international need for a new kind of international relationship. Economically, the member states sought to maintain common prosperity and pursue trade and economic cooperation, which conformed to the trends of economic globalization and regional cooperation.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is bound to have a bright future, and display to the world an image of peace, cooperation and openness," Zhang said.

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