Qingdao summit to usher in more dynamic SCO

Photo taken on May 3, 2018 shows the night view of Fushan Bay in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. The 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit is scheduled for June 9 to 10 in Qingdao. [Photo/Xinhua]

QINGDAO -- With the forthcoming summit -- the first after a membership expansion to include India and Pakistan last year, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is set to play a more influential and substantial role in promoting regional security, peace and prosperity.

The key diplomatic event, which runs from June 9 to 10 in East China's coastal city of Qingdao, occurs at a time when the world is in need of concerted action to address challenges and threats ranging from regional conflicts to spreading terrorism, from populism to unilateralism, and must advance economic globalization and improve global governance to benefit all.

FRUITFUL INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION

Established in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has developed into a comprehensive regional organization, which actively plays a constructive role in regional and international affairs.

The SCO accounts for over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass, nearly half of the world's population and over 20 percent of global GDP. The most populous regional organization has eight member states: China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, as well as four observer states and six dialogue partners.

Member states have steadily carried out fruitful institutional cooperation in fields such as security, economy and people-to-people exchanges, with a number of important documents adopted.

The "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development, stated in the SCO Charter, has been consistently upheld by all members to pursue pragmatic cooperation.

In security, a work priority of the SCO, anti-terrorism cooperation among member states has been strengthened in recent years, said Yevgeniy Sysoyev, director of the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), a Tashkent-based permanent body of the organization.

From 2013 to 2017, institutions of SCO members foiled more than 600 terrorist crimes and captured 2,000 members of international terrorist groups, he told Xinhua, adding that the RATS has become an effective component of the regional security system.

Numerous bilateral and multilateral anti-terror drills have been organized within the SCO. In December, the first such drill attended by the eight members was held in southeast China's coastal city of Xiamen, to improve coordination and share experience on fighting cyber-terrorism.

After the accession of India and Pakistan, meetings of defense ministers and foreign ministers, respectively, from SCO members were held in China this year to implement consensus reached at previous summits and prepare for the upcoming summit.

Progress has also been made in pushing trade facilitation, cooperation in environmental protection, justice, technology and other fields, through a number of meetings since the 17th SCO summit in Astana in June last year.

Meanwhile, people-to-people exchanges broke new ground as the first SCO People's Forum, held in April in northwest China's Xi'an city, proposed that governments and NGOs carry out various exchange activities with the theme of building a community with a shared future for humanity. China also hosted the first SCO women's forum, political parties forum and media summit in May and early June.

SCO cooperation has brought benefits to people of member countries and contributed to regional peace, stability and security. The organization will unleash new potential for cooperation and exert greater influence in the future.

The Qingdao summit is expected to ratify a five-year outline for the implementation of the "Treaty on Long-term Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation," and a three-year outline for cooperation on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism.

With joint efforts from all sides, the summit will be a significant meeting, setting future directions and goals and creating a milestone in the history of the SCO.