File Photo:CGTN

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, in his first foreign visit since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inject more Chinese wisdom to the SCO which remains cohesive and attractive to potential new members by advocating equity, justice and true multilateralism in a turbulent and divided world. 

The SCO summit in Samarkand will be the first in-person summit since June 2019 when leaders met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi are among leaders expected to attend.  

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, Xi will also pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan from September 14 to 16 at the invitation of the presidents of the two countries. 

First foreign visit

The SCO, the first international organization named after a Chinese city, has a unique significance in China's diplomacy as it includes China's neighbors, regional powers, key BRI partners and plays an important role in coordinating regional affairs, observers said. 

At a time when China is summarizing its achievements made in the past 10 years and is ready to embark on a new journey of great rejuvenation, the Central Asia trip and the summit of a Eurasian-spanning organization composed of countries of different development paths, systems and cultures, will be an ideal occasion for China to present its wisdom in development and international relations and make contributions to the world, analysts said.

Choosing the SCO summit as the destination of his first foreign visit since the pandemic demonstrates the great importance Xi attaches to the SCO and China's focus on neighborhood diplomacy, Li Ziguo, a senior research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China stressed that the SCO, accounting for 41 percent of the world's population and 24 percent of global GDP, and which keeps attracting more countries to join, is set to play a pivot role in interpreting and showcasing new forms of international relations, new forms of international organizations, and depicting new forms of human civilization. 

Zhang Hong, an Eastern European studies expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said Xi's trip and attendance at the SCO summit will serve as a new booster for cooperation with Central Asian and South Asian countries to develop further, and push forward the BRI.   

Given the complexity of international and regional situations, the SCO's development is an important pillar supporting true multilateralism and win-win cooperation, and the establishment of a new, democratic, just and rational political and economic international order, the expert said. 

Kazakhstan is the place where Xi first proposed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013. As of today, over 140 countries spanning different regions, cultures and stages of development, and more than 30 international organizations, have signed BRI cooperation documents with China, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

According to official data, China's trade with BRI economies jumped 20.2 percent in the first eight months of 2022 compared to the same period last year.

A China-Europe freight train arrives at Xi'an international port in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Aug. 31, 2022. The freight train loaded with raw materials of liquorice, a Chinese medicinal herb, which departed from Turkmenistan, arrived at the Xi'an international port in Shaanxi Province on Wednesday.(Photo: Xinhua)

Highlights 

Eight countries enjoy the status of full SCO membership: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India; four countries - Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia - have observer status, and six countries - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey, and Sri Lanka - have dialogue partner status.

One of the key agendas for the Samarkand summit is enlarging the membership. The heads of SCO states will adopt a memorandum of obligations for Iran to receive SCO membership. The SCO has also received Belarus' application and admission procedures could begin at the summit in Samarkand. 

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt will formally become SCO dialogue partners with the signing of relevant documents and negotiations will be held on granting Bahrain, the Maldives and other states' the status of dialogue partner. 

Li said that against the backdrop of major changes in international relations, the enlargement of the SCO fully demonstrates that current members and pending partners recognize the organization and its guiding Shanghai Spirit. 

Championing mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development, the SCO creates a sphere of fair and just cooperation and sets a model of a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation at the core, Li noted.  

At the international level, more members mean stronger voices in global governance. When conflicts and uncertainty create havoc in the world, it is noteworthy that the SCO has cast aside the Cold War mentality, concepts such as the clash of civilizations and superiority of certain civilizations, but upholds non-confrontational principles and maintains cooperation that does not target third parties, experts said. 

Zhang Hong from CASS sees the summit as an occasion for bilateral interactions where Xi and other heads of states can exchange views and enhance mutual trust. Zhang in particular mentioned possible bilateral meetings of Xi with Putin and Modi. 

Xi met Putin last in February at the start of the Beijing Winter Olympics and analysts believe the two top leaders' first meeting since the Russia-Ukraine conflict will point the direction for the future development of bilateral relations. 

Against the backdrop of sweeping Western sanctions against Russia, China-Russia trade jumped 31 percent year-on-year from January to August to $117.2 billion and the two just agreed to a switch in gas payment currencies from the US dollar to the Chinese yuan and Russian ruble. 

On India, Zhang said he expects a further easing of the China-India border tension through effective communication of the leaders with strategic visions. There are positive signs as the two sides just conducted a fourth round of disengagement after being in stalemate for over a year, the Hindustan Times reported Monday. 

Though the SCO is more focused on security issues, observers share the consensus that the bloc has a great economic potential with more and more states of various economic structures set to join as members or partners. 

A busy Qingdao port in Shandong Province on February 6, 2022. China's container shipping sector registered steadfast growth despite headwinds from the COVID-19 pandemic and container shortages, indicating the country's robust foreign trade and economic resilience. Photo: cnsphoto

Li believes the wider participation of Middle Eastern states as well as emerging manufacturing countries means the SCO has large energy consumption needs and strong supply chains, possibly changing the landscape of the energy industry in the region. 

Zhao Huirong, also from CASS, told the Global Times earlier that taking into account the needs of member countries in terms of financial cooperation, the SCO may expand the scale of local currency settlements and currency swaps in the future, and study the possibility of establishing an independent payment system.

Given the surges in China-Russia and India-Russia trade since the Ukraine crisis, and how the US-led confrontation against China and Russia has disturbed both the global economy and the stability of supply chains, the SCO can be a platform for economic multilateralism and boosting regional economic integration, analysts said.