SCO Qingdao Summit: Leaders meet for first time after expansion, agree to work together

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03:02

Yes Jiao Yang. The Qingdao SCO Summit has come to a close. Leaders of the member countries have agreed on mutual trust and common development, sustainable security, regional integration and anti-protectionism. AND they also welcomed two new members. CGTN's Han Peng has the details.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has wrapped up what Chinese President Xi Jinping called a "historic" summit in Qingdao.

HAN PENG QINGDAO "This is the first summit after the SCO's last year's expansion, which included Pakistan and India as full member states. The official languages of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization are Chinese and Russian. Perhaps in the future, they might need to include English as well.

The eight heads of state sitting in the room now represent half of the world's population, and a third of its landmass.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT "Having more members means greater strength in the organization. Now we share greater responsibilities in promoting security and stability, as well as common prosperity."

The SCO was founded in 2001, with the aim of boosting regional security cooperation, but its scope has gradually expanded to cover other key areas, such as trade and economic affairs.

So it came as no surprise when President Xi announced a 30 billion RMB investment for the SCO inter-bank Consortium.

XI JINPING CHINESE PRESIDENT "China will continue to promote the Belt and Road initiative to deliver common wealth and prosperity to SCO member states."

New member India, which has been skeptical about the Belt and Road, says it welcomes the SCO's latest work on connectivity.

NARENDRA MODI INDIAN PRIME MINISTER "We are at a stage where our physical and digital connectivity is changing the definition of geography and this is the reason why the SCO is important to India."

The summit came just ahead of the highly-anticipated Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke highly of China's efforts to help make it happen, and called on the SCO to play a greater role in bringing peace to the Korean Peninsula.

VLADIMIR PUTIN RUSSIAN PRESIDENT "We believe Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington are willing to achieve a comprehensive settlement through dialogue in accordance with a route map proposed by Russia and China."

The summit also thrust the city of Qingdao into the global spotlight. A fireworks display on Saturday night represented Confucius' philosophy of celebrating "friends from afar".

And this is exactly what the leaders concentrated on this weekend, and they now look set to expand their common interests and goals for the benefit of all. Han Peng, CGTN, Qingdao.