XI: MOST PRECIOUS SPIRITUAL WEALTH OF SCO IS ITS ADHERENCE TO "SHANGHAI SPIRIT"

BISHKEK, SEPTEMBER 1 /SRNA/ - The most precious spiritual wealth of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation /SCO/ is its adherence to the "Shanghai Spirit," which embodies mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for the diversity of civilizations and the pursuit of common development, Chinese President Xi Jinping said.

In a speech titled "Promoting the Development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation towards Higher Quality" at the 26th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, held today in Bishkek, Xi stressed that over the past 25 years, the SCO has gradually developed into a new type of regional cooperation organisation with the largest geographical scope, the largest population and enormous development potential in the world. “The most important experience of SCO cooperation has been finding the right path to coexistence, characterized by non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. Today, 25 years later, standing at a crossroads concerning the future and destiny of humanity, the SCO should bravely shoulder its historical responsibility and proactively steer the course of history,” Xi said. In this regard, Xi put forward four proposals, China Media Group reported. First, he called on the SCO to make development a priority and pave the way towards a future of shared prosperity. In his view, the organisation should jointly expand cooperation in new areas, including artificial intelligence, the digital economy, green industries and green minerals. China, Xi said, will carry out 100 scientific and technological cooperation projects with SCO countries over the next three years. Second, he called on the SCO to make security a priority and create an environment of universal security. All sides should strengthen cooperation in combating the "three forces," transnational organised crime, drug trafficking and telecommunications fraud, as well as cooperation in information, biological and space security, while strictly preventing external forces from interfering in the internal affairs of countries, undermining political security and disrupting regional stability. Third, Xi called on the SCO to put people first and lay a solid foundation for friendship between generations. China will establish a China-SCO Primary Education Cooperation Centre to build a bridge for exchanges, mutual learning and closer ties among peoples. Fourth, the Chinese president called on the SCO to uphold dialogue and consultation and improve governance in a fair and orderly manner. It is necessary to uphold equality between large and small countries, make decisions on regional issues through joint consultation, and address common challenges through multilateral cooperation. China welcomes more like-minded countries becoming partners and jointly contributing to the improvement of regional and global governance. At the end of the summit, the leaders of the member states signed and issued the Bishkek Declaration, approved protocols amending the SCO Charter, the Regulations on the Universal Centre for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of SCO Member States and the Regulations on the Anti-Drug Centre, and adopted 28 documents aimed at strengthening security, economic and humanitarian cooperation and building up the organisation. The meeting decided that Pakistan would take over from Uzbekistan as chair of the SCO for the 2026–2027 period.