New welcome ceremony, China’s new image

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Editor's note: Wang Jin is a research fellow at both the Charhar Institute and Northwest University in China. The article reflects the author's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Preparations for the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Qingdao are now in their final stage. This will be the first SCO summit since the latest enlargement last June when India and Pakistan became member states.

A considerable package of documents aimed at promoting joint action within the SCO in priority areas will be presented to the leaders for approval, while Qingdao, where the SCO summit is held, will attract attention from the whole world.

Besides the summit agenda, the new welcome ceremony for foreign leaders adopted by the Chinese government also grabs the eyes.

The ceremony includes more honor guards along the convoys’ journey, more trumpet playing in the welcoming ceremony, renewed music played by the military band, and the newly established female honor guard's procession.

All these new changes make the ceremony statelier, more solemn and more magnificent.

Logo of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization./ VCG Photo

It will see the convoy of visiting leaders traveling through Tian'anmen Square, the landmark of Beijing, and they will be able to see the Great Hall of the People and Tian'anmen Rostrum.

More honor guards will take part to energize the warm welcoming atmosphere.

Another highlight is the new female honor guards’ procession. Previously, 13 female honor guards stood with other male honor guards in the procession.

In the new welcome ceremony, 55 female soldiers will wait to be reviewed by visiting heads of states with their independent formation to show Chinese female soldiers’ determination and magnificence.

Members of the guard of honor of the three services of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) serve as an important window to show Chinese soldiers’ determination and bravery. From the training ground to the parade ground, every honor guard went through rigorous training.

September 3, 2015: Soldiers of China's PLA march during the military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing./ VCG Photo

The first honor guards were organized on March 4, 1946, to welcome US General George C. Marshall. Since then, the Honor Guards have become the “business card” for both the PLA and Chinese people.

The new welcome ceremony, especially the newly reformed Honor Guards of the PLA, shows the fruitful achievements yielded by Chinese military reforms led by Chinese President and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping.

Xi has stressed that the country’s military reform should be guided by the objective of building a strong army, and the new feature of the PLA Honor Guards shows the success of the reform.

Meanwhile, as an important international platform, the SCO summit provides China with an important chance to show the success of its decades-long reform and opening-up policy, as well as the success of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.

For the past 18 years, the Shanghai Spirit, the bedrock of the SCO, has been upheld. This philosophy stresses mutual trust, mutual respect, equality, respect for diverse civilizations, and the pursuit of shared development.

China is showing the whole world its confidence, its respect and its willingness of cooperation with the new welcome ceremony.