A new chapter in Chinese multilateral cooperation will begin in Tajikistan as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is among those attending the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Premier Li's first in-office visit to Tajikistan will bring with it a pledge to implement agreements reached during the Qingdao SCO Summit in June, which mapped out the course for future development via the Qingdao Declaration and 23 signed cooperation documents.

Deng Hao, secretary-general of the China Center for SCO Studies, said the Qingdao Declaration highlights the construction of a new type of international relations, and the building of a common community with a shared future for mankind. 

"I believe during the SCO meeting in Tajikistan, leaders will further implement the outcomes of the Qingdao Summit," said Deng.

In 17 years of consistent growth, the SCO now accounts for 20 percent of the world's economy and 40 percent of its population.

It has become the world's largest comprehensive regional organization, covering the largest area and population in the world.

Amid global uncertainties and rising unilateralism and protectionism, experts say international and regional organizations like the SCO mechanism have become the "anchors of stability," playing roles of world peacemaker, global development contributor, and defender of the international order.

"During the SCO Qingdao Summit, President Xi Jinping pointed out the developmental direction of the SCO under the guidance of the 'Shanghai Spirit.' He said SCO member states have deepened mutual trust and friendly relations, consolidated regional security, and stability, promoted common development, and forged a constructive partnership. There are no alliances nor confrontations, and no targeting any third party. There will be more cooperation in areas of trade and finance, political security as well as people-to-people and cultural exchange," Deng added.

During the SCO Qingdao Summit, all parties issued a joint statement on trade liberalization and investment facilitation, calling for efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system with WTO rules at its core. 

Experts said Li's attendance at the SCO meeting in the Tajik city of Dushanbe is expected to inject new impetus into the development of the SCO and further construct an open world economy, hence uttering a strong voice of adhering to multilateralism and opposing protectionism.

(Cover: A street in Qingdao prior to the SCO Summit, China, June 8, 2018. /VCG Photo)