Upholding Shanghai Spirit: SCO's 'circle of friends' continues to expand

Following the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Astana Summit in 2024, China once again assumed the rotating presidency, with the summit scheduled to take place in the northern city of Tianjin this autumn. The SCO has entered "China time."

Against the backdrop of a world entering a new period of turbulence and transformation – where unity and cooperation are more crucial than ever – there are widespread expectations for China to lead the SCO in jointly addressing global challenges and writing a new chapter of win-win cooperation.

Since its inception in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO, established by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has kept pace with the trends of the times and forged a fruitful path of peaceful development, setting an example for building a new type of international relations.

Today, the SCO has become the world's largest and most populous regional cooperation organization, and grown into a pivotal force in maintaining the stability, security and shared prosperity of Eurasia and beyond.

At the heart of the SCO lies the Shanghai Spirit, emphasizing mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development. Amid rising global mistrust, this inclusive philosophy enables the bloc to bridge divides and maintain cross-regional cooperation.

Expanded community

In 2017, India and Pakistan became full members of the SCO, marking the organization's first time to expand membership since its founding.

In 2023, Iran's full membership was approved at the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, bringing the total number of SCO member states to nine.

In the latest development for the SCO, Belarus was formally accepted as the 10th member state of the inter-governmental organization at the Astana Summit in 2024.

The latest expansion bolsters the SCO's capacity for regional cooperation and strengthens its influence on the global stage, underscoring its role as a vital platform for addressing contemporary security and economic challenges.

Belarus' accession to the SCO is a wonderful gift to the Belarusian nation, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said. "Belarus is very proud to become a full member of the SCO. We will strengthen the Shanghai Spirit of the organization based on the principles of mutual respect, equality, and solidarity."

Today, the SCO has expanded from a regional organization with six members into a trans-regional organization with 10 full members, two observer countries and 14 dialogue partners, covering over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.

This remarkable growth underscores the SCO's importance as a platform for fostering multilateral cooperation and addressing shared challenges.

The SCO offers "a compelling alternative to zero-sum thinking," emphasizing "listening over dictating, solidarity over supremacy, and shared growth over isolated gains," said Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia, during the SCO Media and Think Tank Summit in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province.

Trade between China and SCO member states, observer states and dialogue partners came in at a record high of $890 billion in 2024, accounting for approximately 14.4 percent of China's total foreign trade that year, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Deeper SCO cooperation

Since assuming the SCO presidency in July 2024, China has worked closely with member states to advance exchanges and dialogues among political parties, media outlets and think tanks. These efforts have deepened understanding of the Shanghai Spirit and strengthened solidarity within the SCO family.

To bolster security cooperation and mutual trust, China has hosted key meetings, including the Council of the Regional Anti-terrorist Structure of the SCO, the meeting of the border defense leaders of the SCO, and the joint anti-terrorism drill.

On the economic and cultural front, China has organized initiatives such as the SCO Countries Worker Skills Contest, an e-commerce live streaming event, and the SCO Countries Publishing Industry Conference. Additionally, platforms like the SCO Think Tank forum, Youth Campus, the SCO Kunming Marathon, and SCO Women's Forum have fostered greater cross-cultural understanding and friendship.

To date, China has held over 100 events, nearly half of which are institutional, spanning critical areas such as politics, security, military, economy and trade, investment, energy, education, connectivity, technological innovation, green industry, digital economy and people-to-people exchanges.

These events helped SCO countries increase solidarity and mutual trust, enhanced mutual learning and achieved mutually beneficial and win-win results.

The upcoming Tianjin summit will guide the SCO to enter a new stage of high-quality development featuring more solidarity, coordination, vitality and contribution, and build a closer SCO community with a shared future, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing in July.