CGTN poll: Global respondents see SCO driving new momentum in global governance

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will hold its largest summit since its founding on August 31. As the world's most populous and geographically vast regional cooperation organization, it is rapidly becoming an essential force in global governance, with solidarity and cooperation being key to addressing global risks and challenges. A public opinion survey conducted by CGTN shows that respondents gave positive evaluations of the SCO's practical cooperation achievements as well as China's important contributions. The "Shanghai Spirit" has won widespread recognition.

Over the past year, as the rotating chair, China has continued to deepen practical cooperation in various fields within the SCO and achieved fruitful results. Respondents from SCO member states gave this high recognition. 91.7 percent of respondents affirmed the SCO's positive impact on the economic development of its member states, while 89.2 percent believed that a series of SCO cooperation projects have advanced regional infrastructure development and connectivity.

Meanwhile, 83.7 percent said the SCO's promotion of local currency settlement among regional countries helps reduce reliance on the Western economic system. The same percentage, 83.7 percent, gave positive evaluations of the SCO's active role in safeguarding regional security. 78.7 percent affirmed the SCO's efforts in combating terrorism, extremism and separatism, and 79.6 percent appreciated the joint actions of SCO member states in cracking down on cross-border terrorist financing, drug trafficking and the spread of extremist ideologies online.

As a founding member of the SCO, China has always contributed to guiding and advancing the organization's development. In the survey, 91.4 percent of respondents from SCO states gave positive feedback on China's achievements in promoting practical cooperation with SCO countries in areas such as safeguarding regional security and advancing regional economic development. Among them, China's efforts in promoting economic cooperation and infrastructure investment among member states, enhancing security cooperation, promoting the expansion of the SCO and its influence, and ensuring the efficient operation of SCO mechanisms were widely praised.

Another 75.1 percent of respondents gave positive feedback on China's long-term guiding and driving role in the development of the SCO, with 85.2 percent of respondents from SCO member states agreeing. Among younger respondents under 44, recognition was consistently above 75 percent, with 78.8 percent among those aged 25 to 34.

Since its founding, the SCO has upheld the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development. In the survey, 86.8 percent of respondents believed that the "Shanghai Spirit" offers a new, non-hegemonic and non-confrontational approach to regional governance in a multipolar world. Meanwhile, 83.1 percent said the SCO's principle of "no alliance, no confrontation and not targeting any third party" helps ease major-power and bloc rivalries. 81.8 percent believed the "Shanghai Spirit" strengthens the voice of the Global South and contributes to building a fairer and more reasonable international order. Among respondents from SCO states, the recognition rates for these three views were 91.1 percent, 87 percent and 87 percent, respectively.

In addition, 73.5 percent of global respondents believe the SCO's international influence is rising rapidly, and 76.9 percent said the organization is promoting the shift towards a multipolar world. Another 83 percent expect their own countries to strengthen economic cooperation with other developing countries through the SCO platform. This expectation is even higher among respondents from SCO member states (91.1 percent), while more than 60 percent of respondents in G7 countries share this view. Among those under 44, the expectation rate exceeds 85 percent.

The survey was conducted by CGTN and Renmin University of China, through the Institute for International Communication in the New Era, covering 8,873 respondents from 38 countries worldwide. The surveyed countries included major developed nations as well as Global South countries. All respondents were ordinary citizens aged 18 and above, with samples aligned to national census distributions of age and gender.