In its 20 years of existence, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has seen its membership expand. It's now become the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic coverage and population. Our reporter You Yang takes a look at the development of the platform, as well as China's role in promoting cooperation among its member states.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a permanent inter-governmental organization.

It has become the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic coverage and population, with member states home to over 40 percent of the world's population, together contributing around 25 percent to global GDP.

Preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism, the SCO was founded in Shanghai by China, Russia, and Kazakhstan among other members over 20 years ago.

And last September, at the SCO Summit, Bahrain, the Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Myanmar were approved as new dialogue partners.

DENG HAO Secretary-General China Center for SCO Studies "Since its establishment, the SCO has deepened cooperation on law-enforcement and security and created a stable and safe environment for development. It has made trade and investment more convenient, boosted regional economic recovery and strengthened inter-connectivity."

Fuelled by the so-called "Shanghai Spirit," the SCO has been a crucial platform for stakeholders to strengthen security cooperation in the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism. As of 2021, the foreign trade volume of the SCO reached 6.6 trillion U.S. dollars, an increase of nearly 100 times compared with 20 years ago.

DING XIAOXING Director, Institute of European and Asian Studies China Institute of Contemporary International Relations "The Shanghai spirit that member states uphold shares similarities with China's understanding of development and global governance. It highlights developing countries' pursuit of common development, which has become increasingly important in the current international environment, amid hegemony, and as more countries are choosing multilateralism and peaceful development."

Experts say China has played an important role in facilitating economic and trade cooperation through the SCO.

For example, loans totaling 14.6 billion U.S. dollars have been granted to member banks and partner banks up until last August, for infrastructure, green development and agriculture.

DING XIAOXING Director, Institute of European and Asian Studies China Institute of Contemporary International Relations "China has played a leading role in the development of the SCO. First, the birth place of the organization is the Chinese city of Shanghai. And over the past two decades, China has contributed its governance ideas toward the evolution of the SCO. Meanwhile, China has set up a number of cooperative projects with other member states in the fields of economy, agriculture and people-to-people exchanges."

YOU YANG Beijing "Experts say no matter how the SCO develops in the next decades, the 'Shanghai Spirit' will always remain as its core value, emphasising mutual trust, equality and pursuit of common development. It provides a cooperative platform for consultations, which has allowed members to work together on their national interests, regardless of their size. You Yang, CGTN, Beijing"