A number of documents were signed at the SCO Bishkek Summit. China advocates development as a priority and promotes regional cooperation.

At the just-concluded SCO Bishkek Summit, leaders of member states jointly signed and issued the "Bishkek Declaration on the 25th Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization", approved the amendments and supplements to the "SCO Charter" Protocol, the Regulations of the Comprehensive Center for Responding to Security Threats and Challenges, and the Regulations of the Counter-Narcotics Center, and reviewed and approved 28 outcome documents on security, economics, cultural cooperation, and organization building. All parties appreciated China's important contribution to the development of the SCO as a founding member and agreed to implement the strategic outline made at the previous Tianjin Summit, improve mechanism construction, enhance political mutual trust, and deepen cooperation in various fields such as trade, investment, science and technology, energy, finance, industrial chain supply chain, and interconnection. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the first year of the comprehensive implementation of the SCO Development Strategy for the Next 10 Years (2026-2035). Chinese wisdom is continuing to lead the SCO cooperation to a higher level.

Move towards the new and strengthen the innovation momentum for common prosperity. As a regional cooperation organization with an economic aggregate accounting for about a quarter of the world, most of the SCO member states are developing countries, and economic cooperation is the foundation for the SCO's stable and long-term development. China has always adhered to the concept of "real development is true development if we all develop together", adhered to the priority orientation of development, and built the SCO into a priority cooperation platform for high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" and implementation of global development initiatives. At the summit, China advocated "adhering to development as a priority and creating prospects for common prosperity" and promoting inclusive economic globalization that not only consolidates cooperation in traditional areas such as trade and investment, connectivity, and energy resources, but also expands cooperation in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence, digital economy, green industry, and green minerals, and promotes regional cooperation to become deeper, more substantial, and of higher quality. To this end, China promises to continue to host key events such as the SCO Digital Economy Forum and Agricultural Expo, build an international artificial intelligence application cooperation center for SCO countries, set up a China-SCO Port Economic Cooperation Center in Tianjin, and jointly implement 100 scientific and technological cooperation projects with member states in the next three years. A series of pragmatic measures will help all parties seize the opportunities of the times, open up new tracks for digital and smart cooperation, rely on technological innovation to supplement the industrial shortcomings of inland countries, reduce dependence on traditional resource trade routes, cultivate new engines of regional economic growth, solve the problem of regional development fragmentation through mutual promotion of development strategies and innovative resource sharing, and jointly build an integrated and coordinated development pattern.

Go deeper into reality and build a solid foundation for people-to-people bonds. The high-quality development of the SCO requires both upright and upright backbone projects, and it is also inseparable from the warmth of people's livelihood that warms people's hearts. To this end, the SCO is building a pragmatic cooperation system that "supports large projects and warms the hearts of small projects", taking into account the overall situation of national cooperation and the practical demands of ordinary people, so as to achieve simultaneous improvement of national interests and people's livelihood and well-being. At the summit, China proposed to "adhere to people-centeredness and build a solid foundation for ever-lasting friendship" and advocated the expansion of people-to-people exchanges to continuously inject vitality into the good-neighborly friendship among member states. In order to deepen exchanges and integration at the economic and people's livelihood level, all parties have built a "hard skeleton" of regional cooperation through major projects such as connectivity and energy infrastructure. At the same time, they have also actively built "soft ties" to connect people through a number of "small but beautiful" people's livelihood projects. China has made every effort to promote the regular operation of the "Healthy Express Bright Journey" public welfare project, China's drip irrigation technology to empower Uzbekistan's agricultural production, the Sino-Baba Luban Workshop, and the multinational youth digital skills training class project, ensuring that non-governmental poverty reduction exchanges, youth interaction, and traditional medicine cooperation continue to be in-depth and solid. These projects cover many fields such as medical care, agriculture, vocational education, and poverty alleviation. They are down-to-earth, quick-acting, and benefit people's livelihoods, allowing people at the grassroots level to feel the concrete results of SCO cooperation. At this summit, China announced the establishment of the China-SCO Basic Education Cooperation Center, relying on the Luban Workshop and the Confucius Institute to build a platform for mutual learning among civilizations, expand diversified communication channels among legislative bodies, political parties, think tanks, and media, and further consolidate the foundation of the SCO’s ever-lasting friendly society.

We will work together to contribute SCO solutions to world stability and global governance. In today's world, multiple deficits are intertwined and overlapping, and various risks and challenges emerge in endlessly. The SCO adheres to the principle of "discussing issues when they arise, and discussing matters when matters arise", builds collective consensus among member states, practices true multilateralism, and issues a united and fair SCO voice around global governance reform and regional hotspot issues, becoming a vital stabilizing force in turbulent times. At the summit, China advocated "adhering to security as the top priority and creating an environment of universal security" and "persisting in dialogue and consultation to improve fair and orderly governance." Relevant concepts were widely recognized by all parties and were fully reflected in the declaration. The declaration clearly opposes hegemonism, unilateral sanctions and trade protectionism, advocates the establishment of a more inclusive and balanced multi-polar governance structure, and emphasizes that the SCO region must play a leading role in the world economy and ensuring global sustainable development. The declaration reaffirmed our firm defense of the outcomes of World War II and our commitment to remembering and opposing tampering with history. Member states have gathered common positions on issues such as international trade, food security, climate change, and global governance of artificial intelligence, conveyed the common aspirations of countries in the global south, and promoted the evolution of international rules in a more fair and reasonable direction. Faced with complex geopolitical conflicts, all parties in the SCO oppose the solution of international and regional issues with grouping and confrontational thinking, and advocate the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes between countries.

Over the past 25 years, the SCO has become an important guarantee for regional security and prosperity and an important cornerstone of global stability and economic development. The Bishkek Summit will further anchor the SCO's development direction and clarify the implementation path for the next 10 years, and will promote the SCO to achieve better development. Standing at a new historical starting point, the SCO should continue to actively implement the four major global initiatives under the guidance of China's wisdom, continue to unleash the potential of cooperation, work with member states to jointly respond to new security challenges, and jointly move towards modernization, continuously export the power of peace and contribute development dividends to the turbulent and changing world, and continue to write a new chapter of permanent peace and common development to promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Source of this article: Economic Daily Author: Guan Jianbin The author is the director of the Institute of Asian and African Development, Development Research Center of the State Council)