On the coast of the Bohai Sea and the Haihe River, the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit will be held in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1. President will chair the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization +" meeting and deliver a keynote speech.

Since the establishment of the SCO 24 years ago, all parties have adhered to the "Shanghai Spirit" of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development", and have embarked on a path of regional cooperation that conforms to the trend of the times and meets the needs of all parties. Set a model for a new type of international relations. In the course of a century of changes, the Shanghe ship cut through the waves and traveled steadily and far.

This summit will be the largest summit since the founding of the SCO. Starting from China, the SCO countries will jointly summarize successful experiences, consolidate cooperation consensus, accumulate forward action, promote the SCO to enter a new stage of more unity, more cooperation, more vitality, more responsibility, high-quality development, and work together toward a better tomorrow with shared destiny.

China¡¯s action clears the ¡°Shanghai Spirit¡±

The tide of the Haihe River welcomes the cooperation, and win-win cooperation is moving towards the future. As the venue of the SCO Summit, Tianjin has successively held multiple SCO institutional meetings and supporting activities, entering the "SCO Time" at an intense pace and welcoming guests from all parties with open arms.

This is a street scene shot in the center of Tianjin on August 25, 2025.

Since taking over the rotating chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in July last year, China has implemented more than 100 chairmanship activities, covering political, security, economic and trade, interconnection, scientific and technological innovation, green industries and other fields, and practiced the chairmanship slogan of ¡°Promoting the ¡®Shanghai Spirit: The SCO is in Action¡± with concrete actions.

"Be a torchbearer of the 'Shanghai Spirit'"," be an activist in deepening cooperation "and" be an activist in building a community with a shared future for mankind "-President Xi Jinping collectively met with foreign delegations at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states in Beijing in July. When the head of the delegation, he expressed hope for the future development of the SCO.

After 24 years of ups and downs, the SCO has expanded from 6 founding members to a SCO family with 10 member states, 2 observer states and 14 dialogue partners, becoming the most extensive and populous regional international organization in the world today.

Over the past 24 years, China, as a founding member states, has always regarded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as a priority for neighboring diplomacy, is committed to making the Shanghai Cooperation Organization a practical and strong, and has always polished the "Shanghai Spirit" with "China Action."

China's plan continues to enrich the connotation of the "Shanghai Spirit" era. From proposing the concept of development, security, cooperation, civilization, and global governance, to building a common home of unity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness, fairness and justice; from proposing to build the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Community of Shared Future, to explaining the Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative, and Global Civilization Initiative... Since 2013, President Xi Jinping has attended every SCO summit and delivered important speeches, deeply grasping the new changes and new characteristics of the international situation, and working together with the SCO countries to move forward with a broad vision of building a community of shared future for mankind.

Hail Diabat, a professor at the University of Qatar¡¯s College of International Relations, said that China¡¯s important initiatives and programmes injected new meaning into the ¡°Shanghai Spirit¡± and also provided a realistic path for the SCO to address common challenges and mutual benefit and win-win.

China's program continues to promote the SCO to expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation areas. Train law enforcement personnel and strengthen the law enforcement capacity building of all parties; Establish cooperation platforms such as China-Shanghai Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone, SCO Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base, and China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Big Data Cooperation Center; Carry out people-to-people and cultural exchange activities such as SCO youth exchanges in China and the "Chinese Bridge" summer camp... As the SCO moves from "two-wheel drive" to "multi-track progress", China is getting closer and closer to the members of the SCO family, and the building of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's community of destiny is stable and far-reaching.

On May 19, participants from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development conducted an on-site inspection at the Yangling Smart Agriculture Demonstration Park in Shaanxi Province. Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Shao Rui

According to Iranian foreign policy expert Abbas Asrani, from transportation networks, industrial parks to digital infrastructure, China¡¯s efforts and contributions through many pragmatic cooperation projects are crucial both for promoting the development of the SCO countries and for closely linking the members of this regional organization together.¡±

"China has demonstrated its desire and determination to push the SCO to a new stage of high-quality development with practical actions." Marina Demitrieva, deputy director of the Institute of Asian Science Innovation at the Far Eastern Federal University in Russia, believes that this makes the SCO family "more united, more coordinated, more energetic and more fruitful."

To promote regional prosperity

In the Jinghe International Highway-Railway Integrated Logistics Park in Xinjiang, container trucks with the words "China-Europe Truck Flight" are neatly arranged, waiting to be loaded with cargo. Starting from here, hardware, home appliances and other goods produced in China will be transported along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor to the Port of Aktau in Kazakhstan. After being replaced by cargo ships, they will sail to the Port of Baku in Azerbaijan on the other side, where they will be shipped to the European market.

In July last year, during President Xi Jinping's attendance at the SCO Summit and his visit to Kazakhstan, he and President Tokayev jointly attended the opening ceremony of China-EU Trans-Caspian Direct Express via video. For the first time, Chinese vehicles arrived at ports along the Caspian Sea by direct road transportation.

On August 6, 2025, a cargo ship landed in the port of Akkuta in Kazakhstan (drone photo).

Over the past year, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor has been improved and capacity has continued to rise, and the Aktau Port container hub project has been stepped up. Anur Nemeshov, head of commercial work at Aktau International Maritime Trade Port, said that more than half of the goods in Aktau Port come from China. The joint construction of the "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative and cooperation within the framework of the SCO are helping this transportation artery to flourish, and the people of regional countries are full of harvest.

The main line of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project has entered a substantive construction stage; the Xi'an and Almaty transportation corridor has been upgraded between China and Kazakhstan; in 2024, a total of 19,000 China-Europe freight trains will be operated through SCO countries and regions, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, the regional interconnection network is getting denser and denser. In 2024, the trade volume between China and SCO member states, observer states, and dialogue partners will reach a record of US$890 billion, and the effectiveness of regional economic cooperation will become more prominent.

On April 29, 2025, staff were busy at the start of the central control project of the Zhengzhou Railway in the Jalalabad region of Kyrgyzstan.

According to a report released by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Energy Ministers 'Meeting in June, as of the end of 2024, the installed capacity of renewable energy power generation in SCO countries reached 2.31 billion kilowatts, accounting for about 50% of the world. China's new energy vehicles are driving on the streets of Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and other countries; China's water-saving irrigation technology is promoted and used in countries such as Uzbekistan and Pakistan; the "China-Russia Cross-Border Electronic Signing Service" helps companies sign cross-border trade contracts online... New growth points for mutually beneficial cooperation in the SCO continue to emerge, and "green" and "digital" have become key words.

Last July, the "Counter-Terrorism Cooperation-2024" joint anti-terrorism exercise was held in Xinjiang. This is the first time that the SCO's law enforcement and security cooperation has brought together the competent authorities of all member states to carry out joint training of anti-terrorism forces. From combating the "three evil forces", transnational organized crime, and drug trafficking, to speeding up the establishment of the SCO Comprehensive Center for Security Threats and Challenges and its branches, the Anti-Narcotics Center and other "four security centers", the SCO continues to build a solid foundation for security and build a new pattern of regional security cooperation.

This is the closing ceremony of the 2025 SCO National Film Festival filmed in Yongchuan District, Chongqing on July 6, 2025. Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Wang Quanchao

For more than a year, activities such as the SCO Women's Forum, the SCO National Film Festival and Television Festival, the SCO National Civilization Dialogue and the SCO Media Think Tank Summit have been held in succession.

Abdul Nasir Rishtiya, president of the Afghanistan Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that the regional integration of the SCO has accelerated in recent years, driving regional countries including Afghanistan to share development dividends and plan modernization.

More ¡°contribution¡± to the world

At the SCO Summit in Astana last July, Belarus officially joined the SCO, which was a wonderful gift to the people of Belarus,¡± President Lukashenko said.

The international pattern continues to evolve, the global governance system is profoundly redesigned, the SCO is thriving, the "friendship circle" is constantly expanding, bilateral multilateral cooperation is fruitful and makes more "super-country contributions" to the world.

This is the plenary meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Media Think Tank Summit photographed in Zhengzhou on July 25, 2025. Photo by Xinhua Agency reporter Zhu Xiang

The multilateral principle of "international affairs are dealt with by all, the future of the world is in common control" transcends the old notions of civilization conflict, Cold War thinking, zero-sum game, and gives a strong impetus to promote the construction of a more just and reasonable global governance system.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization+ Summit was held for the first time during the Astana Summit of the SCO, and this innovative model significantly enhanced the SCO¡¯s inclusion and representation in global issues, giving the international community more hope for the SCO¡¯s role in promoting the improvement of the global governance system.

Rashid Alimov, the former Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, said that the SCO is continuing to improve the global governance system with its advanced governance concepts.

In April this year, in the face of the intentional tariff war of individual countries, the SCO issued a statement, with the flag clearly stating its continued commitment to promoting the development of an open world economy. In June, Israel launched a massive attack on Iran, and the SCO spoke for the first time, condemning this move as a serious violation of the norms of international law and the Charter of the United Nations, which has a serious impact on global peace and stability.

From the situation in Afghanistan to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the SCO provides political and diplomatic platforms and channels for dialogue and communication in the coordinated resolution of international and regional hotspot issues; from maintaining supply chain security, stability and diversification to uniting and promoting world justice, harmony and development, On major global issues related to the future and destiny of mankind, the SCO has issued a strong voice of the times that we must unite rather than division, cooperate rather than confrontation, and justice rather than hegemony.

The ¡°SCO contribution¡± comes from the broad unification of global Southern forces.The SCO has become an important platform for promoting South-South cooperation and participating in global governance.

Acram Mansour, an expert on China at the University of Cairo in Egypt, said that many Arab countries have become dialogue partners of the SCO, which has strengthened the voice of the global South, helping the global South to better safeguard their sovereignty, pursue development and prosperity, and improve national governance.

Turkish Marmara Foundation Chairman Akkan Suwer is looking forward to the upcoming Shanghai Summit in Tianjin. In his opinion, China¡¯s initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative will enhance the exchanges and understanding of confidence between different countries and peoples on multilateral platforms such as the Shanghai Organization, and will serve the common interests of all mankind in addressing global challenges.¡±

¡°In the face of the intertwined international situation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization must look at the direction, have firm confidence, act efficiently and act more effectively to inject more stability and positive energy into the world,¡± President Xi Jinping said in July at a collective meeting with the head of the foreign delegation of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers.

The summit in Tianjin is a new starting point, and China will continue to work with the members of the large family of the SCO, and join hands with more countries and international organizations to build a community of human destiny.

Text reporters: Zhao Yan, Zhang Dailei, Wang Yachen

Poster design: Liu Silu

Coordinator: Sun Hao, Han Liang, Qiao Jihong, Jin Yu, Qiu Xingxiang