SCO poised to play a greater role in building a community with a shared future for humanity

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 1 attended the 26th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the "SCO Plus" meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where he delivered important remarks.

His speech set a clear direction for the SCO to pursue higher-quality development and for the international community to jointly advance an equal and orderly multipolar world, as well as a more just and equitable system of global governance.

Twenty-five years ago, reckoning with the hard lessons of the Cold War, confronting the real threats from terrorist, separatist and extremist forces, and heeding the earnest aspirations of the world for peace and development, the SCO was established and gradually showed its vitality.

Over the past 25 years, the SCO has grown from six founding members into a large family spanning 27 countries across Asia, Europe, and Africa. It has gradually become a new type of regional cooperation organization -- one with the largest land area and population of such bodies, and with enormous development potential.

The SCO has pioneered and has consistently upheld the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development. It has found the right way of coexistence, featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party.

It brings countries in the region together to build a common home and successfully set a stellar example in conducting relations among big countries, among neighbors, and among countries of different sizes.

In today's world, transformations unseen in a century are accelerating. The competition between dialogue and confrontation, win-win and zero-sum mindsets, and multilateralism and unilateralism is intensifying. At this crossroads, where the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the SCO must step forward, shoulder its historical responsibility, and steer the course ahead.

During the summit in Bishkek, Xi, focusing on the future of humanity, raised four proposals. He said the SCO should stay committed to putting development first, and open up the prospects for shared prosperity; it should stay committed to taking security as a key goal, and foster an environment of common security; it should stay committed to a people-centered approach, and cement the foundation for everlasting friendship; it should stay committed to dialogue and consultation, and strive for more equitable and orderly governance.

Grounded in the profound changes of the times and aligned with the trend of history, these four proposals provide fundamental guidance for the SCO to build consensus, deepen cooperation, and pursue steady and sustained progress under the new circumstances.

In recent years, the rise of the Global South is bringing about profound changes in the international balance of power. The trend toward a multipolar world is irreversible.

At the "SCO Plus" meeting, Xi stressed that as a responsible major country, China advocates for an equal and orderly multipolar world. Sovereign equality and mutual respect are fundamental principles. Balance, order and the rule of law are inherent requirements. Multilateralism, dialogue and consultation are essential pathways. Mutual benefit, win-win, and inclusiveness are the way forward for development.

To make the SCO more united and dynamic, and to enable it to play a greater role in advancing an equal and orderly multipolar world, Xi proposed to advance common prosperity in the vast continent straddling Asia and Europe with the SCO Strength, to promote the development and rise of the Global South through the SCO Wisdom, and to guide the reform and improvement of global governance through the SCO Action.

These proposals inject strong positive energy into SCO member states and partners as they grasp the underlying trend of history, shoulder the responsibilities of the times and work together to build a more just and equitable system of global governance.

As a founding member, China has always been an important force in advancing the development and growth of the SCO. China will implement 100 technological cooperation projects with other SCO countries in the next three years, and support the early opening of the SCO's four security centers so as to upgrade the capacity of member states in responding to security threats and challenges.

It will establish a China-SCO basic education cooperation center, and continue to build bridges for exchanges, mutual learning and people-to-people connectivity through Confucius Institutes, Luban Workshops and other programs, support the SCO in conducting exemplary cooperation on implementing the Global Governance Initiative, and call for continued improvement of the SCO's institutional mechanism to enhance its efficiency in decision-making and implementation.

All sides highly appreciated China's important contribution to the development of the organization and agreed to actively implement the strategic blueprint laid out at the 2025 SCO Summit in China's Tianjin.

They agreed to continue carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit, improve institutional mechanisms, strengthen political mutual trust, deepen cooperation in trade, investment, science and technology, energy, finance, industrial and supply chains, and connectivity, bring peoples closer together, and work together to address new security challenges, so as to write a new chapter of lasting peace and common development.

Standing at a new starting point on the 25th anniversary of the SCO, China will work with all parties to continue to hold high the banner of the Shanghai Spirit, implement the development strategy of the SCO for the next decade, and pursue development with higher quality, so as to make greater contributions to a community with a shared future for humanity.