Staying with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The SCO Interbank Association held its 14th meeting in Beijing on Wednesday in a gathering that was chaired by the China Development Bank. CDB officials shared their insights during the meeting on a variety of issues, including the bank's outlook for strengthening financial cooperation. Wei Lynn Tang reports.

China Development Bank, one of the world's largest development finance institutions, has issued over 100 billion US dollars in loans to SCO member states in the past 14 years.

And since chairing the SCO interbank association from October last year, new achievements were made in supporting countries in the region, in the areas of energy, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises and agriculture. But its Chairman Hu Huaibang says, more must be done to strengthen cooperation with various local currencies, and to innovate modes of financing.

Meanwhile, the bank believes trade frictions between China and the US, for the most part, will not affect China's economic growth.

ZHANG XUGUANG, VICE GOVERNOR CHINA DEVELOPMENT BANK "We are still very confident about China's economic growth, especially now that the country is actively deleveraging and seek to better manage financial systemic risks. This is also why we, as part of the SCO interbank association, have to strengthen cooperation with surrounding countries, to reduce the market impact from these broader trade tensions."

The SCO interbank association was set up in 2005 as a mechanism to fund investment projects supported by the governments of SCO member states.

Its newest member, Pakistan's Habib Bank, says it is excited to be on board; but notes of critical steps going forward. This includes more cooperation on a working level - where it is proposing to form groups in trade, project finance and currency related issues.

FARHAN TALIB, CORPORATE & INVESTMENT BANKING HEAD HABIB BANK LIMITED, PAKISTAN "The working level impetus is extremely important because if that doesn't happen the bigger policy doesn't go anywhere, so we have to translate into actionable items and we have been pushing that as partner bank and now as a member bank also. I think the second issue is how we work on the currency part so RMB development and RMB convertibility with our respective currencies and using it as a trade currency between member countries is also very important."

WEI LYNN TANG BEIJING "At a time of profound change in the global economy - as focus shifts from the West to the East - member banks deem this as an unprecedented opportunity, and call upon a quicker pace in alignment to achieve win-win and beyond."