Spirit of the times

                                                                                                                    China Daily

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has gathered strength with its growing "family" and is forging ahead with greater practical cooperation

On June 15, 2001, the leaders of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan met on the banks of the Huangpu River and announced the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization — it is named after its birthplace: Shanghai; its identity: organization; and its purpose: cooperation.

Since then, the SCO has faced various challenges and threats squarely, risen to difficulties, and kept developing and growing. Today, the organization has become a "family" of 26, with eight member states, four observer states and 14 dialogue partners. There are still quite a number of countries "knocking on the door" of this "family", expressing their hopes to join and inquiring about the path to be part of the "family".It is fair to say that after 22 years of development, the SCO has become the regional international organization with the largest territory, the largest population and a quarter of the global economic aggregate.

This is an encouraging phenomenon that has drawn wide attention from the international community, which shows that the basic principles of the SCO, such as openness, cooperation, non-alignment, non-confrontation and the non-targeting of other countries and regions, and the values of the "Shanghai Spirit" have increasingly gained broad recognition. Under its guidance, the SCO has brought together countries from different regions, civilizations, traditions and development models, and created a way of cooperation featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit and equal consultation among countries in the region. As the "circle of friends" further enlarges, we see this notion and model of cooperation also having an influence on and appeal to countries outside the organization. It is fair to say that the expansion reflects that the principles and values followed by the SCO have been widely welcomed by the international community, especially by peace-loving countries and peoples who are committed to cooperation.

The growing interest, enthusiasm and expectations from inside and outside the SCO make us, as builders and participants in the development of the organization, feel the weight of our responsibility. It also reminds us that no matter how far we go, we must not forget the way we came.

As the SCO originates from the pursuit of its founding member states to build and strengthen trust and disarmament in border areas, its starting point and top priority are deepening security cooperation and maintaining regional peace and stability. As one of the world's first international organizations to raise the banner of counter-terrorism, the SCO has continuously consolidated the legal foundation for security cooperation, built multi-tiered platforms of cooperation, effectively carried out joint operations, and established close cooperation and accumulated rich experience on strategic security, defense, law enforcement, information security, combating transnational organized crimes, counter-narcotics, anti-money laundering and the crackdown on the "three evil forces". On top of this, the member states have gradually formed a common outlook on security that emphasizes peaceful dialogue and political consultation to resolve regional conflicts. Over the past 22 years, the SCO region has maintained peace, security and stability, and on that basis, spurred development and prosperity, which has enabled the people of member states to fully enjoy the dividends of rapid economic and social development in a peaceful and secure environment. By promoting development through security, the SCO has injected positive energy into the cause of world peace and development.

At the same time, regional economic cooperation based on universal security has been further enhanced. The member states have fully tapped their own strengths to establish and improve mechanisms of cooperation, deepen practical cooperation in the fields of the economy and trade, transportation, agriculture, energy, industry, finance, science and technology, promote institutional arrangements, enhance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and increase the free flow of goods, capital, technology and services, so as to deliver more benefits of cooperation to the people of all countries.

Built on geographical proximity, cultural affinity and the long history of friendly exchanges, members of the "family" have engaged in extensive cultural mutual learning and promoted the bonds between peoples. In accordance with the Agreement on Cooperation in Culture Between the Member States and other legal instruments, the SCO has fostered a network of people-to-people exchanges, and implemented a series of institutionalized projects. Fruits of cooperation have been produced in the fields of education, culture, art, sports, tourism, medicine, women, youth, think tanks, media and interactions among the peoples, thus gathering strong public support for the concept of the "SCO family" featuring solidarity and mutual assistance.

It is notable that China, as a founding member state of the SCO, has all along attached importance to and fully participated in all cooperation areas under the SCO framework. Over the past 22 years, China has proposed a lot of constructive initiatives and injected vitality into the growth of the organization. In particular, President Xi Jinping's proposals, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, building a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation, and building a community with a shared future for mankind, have been included in the outcome documents of the SCO mechanisms, and become significant vehicles to promote regional and world peace and development. The projects initiated by China in the political, economic, cultural and other fields have won the support of all parties and brought benefits to the people of different countries. In recent years, China has fully leveraged its strength and taken active actions in such areas as the economy and trade, agriculture, poverty alleviation, sub-national cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. China has contributed its proposals and demonstrated its sense of mission for the development of the SCO, which has been positively evaluated by all parties.

Ancient Chinese teachings tell us that "men of insight see the trend, while men of wisdom ride it". At a time when changes of the world, the times and the history are unfolding in an unprecedented manner, all the member states are thinking about the way to carry forward the successful SCO model of the past 22 years, continue to uphold peace, security, development and prosperity, and secure a better future for our peoples. To meet the strong expectations of all parties on the improvement and expansion of security cooperation and the implementation of more practical cooperation, heads of the member states have reached consensus on the necessity to improve the mechanism in response to threats and challenges and to improve the work of the SCO, and formulated common tasks in this regard. This also sends a clear message that the SCO should, while staying true to its founding aspiration, keep pace with the times, seize the momentum, turn challenges into opportunities, and work all-out to take the organization to a new level.

The 2023 SCO Summit is just around the corner. Since taking over the rotating presidency of the SCO, India has made intensive and effective preparations with the support of other member states, and put forward a practical agenda for the summit. It is expected that new progress will be made at this summit regarding the expansion of the SCO membership, which is closely followed by various parties. As the "family" grows bigger, we have every reason to believe that the SCO will play a more important role in safeguarding regional peace, security and stability, making the pie of common interests bigger for the member states, and driving the global governance system in a more democratic, just and reasonable direction.

The author is secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.