BEIJING, July 15 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday met in Beijing with foreign ministers and heads of standing bodies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) who are in China to attend the Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of SCO Member States.
He noted that over the past 24 years since its founding, the SCO has always upheld the Shanghai Spirit, grown into a mature and robust organization, and demonstrated strong vitality.
China has always prioritized the SCO in its neighborhood diplomacy, and is committed to making the organization more substantive and stronger, safeguarding regional security and stability, promoting the development and prosperity of member states and building a closer community with a shared future, Xi said.
He added that since China assumed the rotating presidency last July, it has actively carried out activities and advanced cooperation, with all parties taking solid steps to jointly build a better home for the SCO.
With the SCO Summit set to take place this year in China's Tianjin, Xi expressed his hope to meet the leaders of other member states at the event to discuss the future development of the SCO.
He stressed that in the face of a turbulent and changing international landscape, the SCO must stay focused, remain confident, act efficiently and play a more proactive role in injecting greater stability and positive energy into the world.
Xi called on the SCO to take trust and mutual benefit as the foundation of cooperation, equality and consultation as the way of engagement, respect for diverse civilizations as a means to promote harmony and inclusiveness, and common development as a path toward shared prosperity, to ensure that the Shanghai Spirit continues to light the way in building an SCO community with a shared future.
The organization should respond to the people's aspirations and be doers in deepening cooperation, Xi said, calling for improving mechanisms to address security threats and challenges, better alignment of member states' development strategies with cooperation initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, and facilitating personnel exchanges and people-to-people ties.
Xi also called for joint efforts to firmly oppose hegemony, power politics, and bullying in order to promote a more equal and balanced multipolar world. He emphasized the need for extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits to advance a more inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalization.
The SCO should unite and lead the Global South in building a more just and equitable global governance system, pooling immense strength for the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, he added.
Wang Yi, as the chair of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the SCO Member States, reported on the progress made in various aspects of work since China assumed the rotating presidency, as well as the preparations for the SCO Summit in Tianjin.
On behalf of the foreign delegations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that through its steadfast commitment to the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO has achieved notable cooperation outcomes and gained increasing international appeal.
Practice has proven that the Shanghai Spirit, which is characterized by mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development, aligns with member states' shared interests and demonstrates robust vitality, he added.
Lavrov said that since China assumed the SCO rotating presidency, it has hosted numerous events driving the organization's new progress.
Facing a complex global landscape, the SCO should uphold multilateralism and promote the international order toward greater justice and equity, said Lavrov, adding that all parties stand ready to support China's work as chair, forge greater consensus, and ensure the success of the upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin.
