Joining Hands to Build a More Beautiful Home of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Statement by H.E. Xi Jinping
President of the People’s Republic of China
At the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus” Meeting in Astana

Astana, July 4, 2024

Your Excellency President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev,
Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to be with you in beautiful Astana. I would like to thank President Tokayev for the warm hospitality and thoughtful arrangements. Kazakhstan has done an excellent job as President of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) over the past year, and the SCO has made new progress.

As a Chinese saying goes, “No mountain or ocean can distance people who have shared aspirations.” Today, we get together for our first “SCO Plus” Meeting, with good friends and new partners in the same room holding important discussions. This shows that under the new circumstances of the new era, the vision of our Organization is widely popular, and that SCO member states have friends across the world.

At present, changes of historical significance across the world during our times are unfolding in ways like never before. The international landscape is undergoing rapid transformation. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing fast. As human civilization marches forward in big strides, factors of insecurity, instability and uncertainty are evidently increasing.

To cope with this major transformation, the key is to have the wisdom to see the changes, the ability to deal with the changes, and the courage to make changes. We need to bear in mind that we live in a community with a shared future, and always uphold the Shanghai Spirit. We need to stay firmly on the development paths that suit our respective national conditions and regional realities, and jointly build a more promising home of the SCO so that our peoples can live a peaceful, successful and happy life. To that end, I wish to propose the following:

First, we should build a common home of solidarity and mutual trust. A few days ago, China held the Conference Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. The Shanghai Spirit is consistent with the essence of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. It is the shared value of our Organization, and should be all the more cherished and faithfully observed at all times.

We need to respect the development path of respective, independent choosing, and support each other in safeguarding core interests. We need to bridge our differences, build more consensus, and enhance mutual trust through strategic communication. China proposes that SCO member states do more to share their experience on governance and hold the SCO Political Parties Forum at an appropriate time.

Second, we should build a common home of peace and tranquility. Security is a prerequisite for national development, and safety is the lifeline to happiness of the people. No matter how the international landscape changes, our Organization must hold the bottom line of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security. Real security is premised on the security of all countries.

We need to have a complete set of measures under the security cooperation mechanisms, because more lines of defense will give us more protection. The SCO should move faster to build a universal center and its branches to address the challenges and threats to the security of SCO member states and the Anti-Drug Center. It should strengthen intelligence sharing and conduct joint operations to jointly safeguard security in our part of the world. As the current chair of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure, China will do what it can to ensure the success of the Interaction-2024 joint counterterrorism exercise and other events.

Afghanistan is indispensable for the security in the region. We need to make best use of the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighbors and other platforms to increase humanitarian support to Afghanistan, and encourage Afghanistan to establish a broad-based and inclusive political structure and embark on a path of peace and reconstruction.

Third, we should build a common home of prosperity and development. Modernization is the shared goal of all countries in the SCO. China proposes that 2025 be designated as the SCO Year of Sustainable Development so as to help us focus on fostering new forces for growth. China is ready to work with all parties to fully implement the eight major steps under high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. We will promote regional cooperation through platforms such as the demonstration base for agricultural technology exchange and training, the local economic and trade cooperation demonstration area, and the ecology and environment innovation base. We will also expand local currency settlement, and actively promote the establishment of an SCO financing platform.

China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou Satellite Navigation System and participate in the development of the International Lunar Research Station. China proposes establishing an SCO digital education alliance, and is willing to provide at least 1,000 training opportunities on digital technology to fellow countries in the SCO in the next three years. We should also modernize the governance system of our Organization, improve its operation mechanisms, and boost its effectiveness.

Fourth, we should build a common home of good-neighborliness and friendship. Dialogue among civilizations is ever more important for world peace and harmony. China is ready to provide quality platforms for countries in the SCO to engage in such dialogues. It will give full play to the role of non-official organizations such as the SCO Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation. It will continue to organize events under signature programs such as the Forum on Traditional Medicine, the Forum on People-to-People Friendship, the Youth Campus, and the Youth Development Forum. It will hold a green development forum and a women’s forum in Qingdao, the tourism and cultural capital of the SCO. We welcome all parties to take an active part in these events.

In the next five years, China will host 1,000 young people from countries in the SCO for exchange opportunities in China. I believe that with our joint efforts, there will be more robust interactions and mutual learning among regional countries as well as deeper understanding and friendship among our peoples.

Fifth, we should build a common home of fairness and justice. The current SCO Summit has issued the Astana Declaration, the SCO initiative on world unity for justice, harmony and development, and the statement on the principles of good-neighborliness, trust and partnership. It is a strong message of the new era, one that calls for solidarity, cooperation and justice rather than division, confrontation, and hegemonism.

We should jointly advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, practice true multilateralism, and make global governance more just and equitable. The SCO should make its important contribution to eliminating the deficits in peace, development, security and governance.

Colleagues,

A Chinese adage reads, “Victory is ensured when people pool their strength together; Success is secured when people put their heads together.” The SCO owes its success to solidarity and cooperation throughout the years. This is also naturally the inevitable way for us to respond to the changing world and open new horizons on the new journey ahead.

China will take the rotating presidency after the Astana Summit. We will work with SCO partners in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation, and join hands with more countries and international organizations that identify with the Shanghai Spirit to strive for common progress and foster brighter prospects for a community with a shared future for mankind.

Thank you.