The 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Member states are expected to take the opportunity of the Samarkand Summit to exchange views on a series of concerns and seek consensus and solutions.
The SCO member states have always followed the “Shanghai Spirit”, adhered to the “road of openness and integration”, advocated innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared development concepts, expanded space for practical cooperation, helped economic recovery, improved people’s livelihood, and promoted regional economic development. The cooperation has yielded fruitful results, and has continued to move towards the “better vision of mutual achievement, development and revitalization”, and has contributed to the “Shanghai Cooperation Forces” for global development and prosperity.
Steady Growth and Enhance the Level of Mutually Beneficial Cooperation
Development together is true development, and sustainable development is good development. At present, the overall development momentum of the SCO region is good, and the economic aggregate and foreign trade volume of the member states have achieved an average annual growth of about 12%. In 2020, the total economic volume and foreign trade volume of member countries will increase by 11 times and 8 times respectively compared with the beginning of the SCO. In 2021, the total economic volume of the SCO member states will exceed 20 trillion US dollars, their share in the global economy will increase steadily, and their contribution to world economic growth will continue to increase.
With the deepening of the cooperation in the joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, the cooperation between the SCO countries’ development strategies has become increasingly close, the level of trade and investment has been significantly improved, the pattern of high-quality regional connectivity has begun to take shape, and there are many bright spots in the fields of agriculture and local cooperation. Products such as melons from Uzbekistan, sunflower oil from Kazakhstan, cherries from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have entered the homes of ordinary Chinese people; investment and cooperation fields have extended from traditional fields such as oil, natural gas, and mineral resource development to electric power, telecommunications, chemicals, Agriculture, business services, etc.; the China-Europe freight train will run 15,000 trains in 2021, the China-Russia Heihe-Blagoveshchensk highway bridge has been opened to traffic, and the construction process of the China-Gyria-Ukraine railway has begun…
The Russian Satellite News Agency commented that over the past 20 years, the SCO member states have achieved fruitful results in trade, investment, project contracting and other fields, strengthened regional connectivity, and promoted the economic development and improvement of people’s livelihoods in various countries. As the SCO continues to expand its membership, there is huge potential for future cooperation and promising prospects. “The SCO has entered the fast lane of development, and the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ has been recognized by more countries.” Alimov, the former secretary-general of the SCO, said that the SCO region is rich in traditional energy reserves, and the development of renewable energy such as hydropower and photovoltaics Rapidly, planting and animal husbandry developed. The SCO strengthens cooperation and plays an important role in global sustainable development, energy security and food security, and lays the foundation for the common prosperity of Europe and Asia.
The SCO member states are guided by openness and cooperation, resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, promote the in-depth integration of the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” initiative with the development strategies of member states and regional cooperation initiatives such as the Eurasian Economic Union, and smooth the regional economic cycle. The stability of the industrial chain and supply chain, international food security and energy security have made the “SCO voice” and demonstrated the “SCO responsibility”.
Expand space and tap the potential of innovation and cooperation
The SCO region has favorable conditions such as rich resource endowments, huge market scale, and strong technological innovation capabilities. It is full of development momentum and has broad prospects for cooperation. President Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must continue to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, ensure the safe and orderly flow of people, goods, capital, and data, and create growth points for digital economy, green energy, and modern agricultural cooperation.”
In the past few years, innovative technologies have played an increasingly important role in promoting sustainable economic development and digital transformation in the SCO region, and member states have continued to deepen cooperation in the field of science and technology and achieved positive results——
In Yangling Smart Agriculture Demonstration Park, Shaanxi, China, modern agricultural cooperation is in full swing in the SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base, from seed research and development, new variety cultivation to solar sprinkler irrigation, intelligent drip irrigation and other agricultural technology upgrades; in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan , Chinese companies help improve mobile communication coverage, solve the communication problems of people in remote areas, and also participate in the construction of digital infrastructure projects such as “smart cities” and “intelligent transportation”; Samarkand, Uzbekistan is building the Uzbekistan-SCO Industrial Zone , to build an important platform for the implementation of joint projects within the SCO framework and tap the potential of innovative cooperation…
In recent years, the SCO has adopted a series of outcome documents to strengthen cooperation in the fields of digitalization, information and communication technology, and technological innovation. The member states have agreed to deepen the exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of digital economy, and promote the transformation of national economies in various countries towards innovation. SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming said that the SCO countries actively share the fruits of digital development and carry out digital trade cooperation, which will promote regional security, stability and sustainable development and open up broader prospects for the joint implementation of global development initiatives.
Since the beginning of this year, the member states have reached new consensus on cooperation in science and technology, energy, finance and other fields, and actively planned new directions and searched for new opportunities for regional development. In April, the 6th Science and Technology Ministers’ Meeting of the SCO Member States reviewed and approved the SCO Member States’ Action Plan for Priority S&T Cooperation (2022-2025), the Implementation Mechanism Plan for Multilateral Joint Scientific Research and Innovation Projects, and the Artificial Intelligence Development Cooperation Plan;6 In January, the second meeting of the Energy Ministers’ Meeting of the SCO Member States was held. The member states will coordinate energy security and energy green and low-carbon development, actively create renewable energy demonstration projects, deepen scientific and technological innovation cooperation, and promote the quality and upgrading of energy cooperation; In August, the SCO Bank Consortium signed a cooperation document, and each member bank will carry out financial cooperation in the fields of infrastructure interconnection, green and low-carbon, digital economy, social and people’s livelihood, etc., to provide strong support for the stable recovery of the regional economy.
Khozayev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, said that SCO member states should make full use of their economic advantages to further develop high-tech industries and jointly develop new markets. Farooq, Permanent Secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, believes that in order to achieve economic recovery and sustainable growth, the SCO needs to actively innovate, especially in the field of digitalization. Pakistan is willing to strengthen cooperation with member states to promote social and economic development and improve people’s well-being.
Emphasis on Pragmatism to Promote Regional Sustainable Development
The sea is full of flowers, and the pearl shells are shining. On the coast of China’s Yellow Sea, Qingdao SCO Pearl International Expo Center is about to be completed. The center building is shaped by the unique shape of the “Shanghai He Zhi Shell” with seven groups of shells in the center, implying the cultural diversity and inclusiveness of the SCO countries and the prosperous trade. After the start of operation, the center will become another important platform for cooperation among the SCO countries.
Over the years, China has always maintained a pragmatic and cooperative attitude, actively promoted innovative mechanisms, built a cooperation platform, and contributed to the economic development of the SCO region. From the establishment of the China-SCO Local Cooperation Demonstration Zone and the SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base, to the holding of the China-SCO Digital Economy Industry Forum, and the unveiling of the China-SCO Economic and Trade Academy, each commitment has been fulfilled, and one by one. The implementation of this project shows that China adheres to the right path of inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win, and continuously promotes the SCO regional economic cooperation to achieve more practical results.
Actively promote the high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”, which effectively responds to the yearning of the people of the SCO countries for a better life: China and Tajikistan jointly build an agricultural textile industrial park, using digital and intelligent agricultural machinery and textile equipment to improve local productivity, Directly and indirectly create more than 10,000 jobs; the Karot Hydropower Station in Pakistan invested and constructed by a Chinese company has been fully put into commercial operation, which can meet the electricity needs of about 5 million local people; a Chinese company is building the second north-south road in Kyrgyzstan. It will reverse the situation of difficult local roads and poor logistics… Sheradil Bakhtgulov, consultant of the Kyrgyz National Institute of Strategic Studies, said that the cooperation between the SCO member states and China is mutually beneficial and can bring benefits to the people. Come for more benefits.
By the end of June this year, China had invested more than US$37.5 billion in SCO member countries. In order to help countries recover from the epidemic, China proposed in 2021 to strive to achieve the target of US$2.3 trillion in cumulative trade volume with SCO countries in the next five years, optimize trade structure and improve trade balance. At the beginning of this year, the China Development Bank established the second phase of the SCO-Union Consortium Special Loan, with a scale of 30 billion yuan equivalent, for the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” cooperation, focusing on supporting modern interconnection, infrastructure construction, green and low-carbon renewable energy sustainable development projects.
President Rahmon of Tajikistan said that China has strongly supported Tajikistan to improve infrastructure and improve people’s livelihood over the years, and has become one of Tajikistan’s largest economic and trade investment partners, and Tajikistan-China cooperation in various fields has accelerated. It is hoped that the scale of trade between the two countries will continue to increase in the future and cooperation in emerging fields will be accelerated.
Those who wish to govern the season, those who wish to rule are due to the situation. China will make joint efforts with the SCO member states to promote the implementation of global development initiatives, create more cooperation highlights, improve the level of practical cooperation, and promote continuous new achievements in regional economic cooperation, so as to jointly create a brighter future for the SCO.