Why SCO Summit Holds Importance?

Amid abysmal security turmoil and cascading economic turbulence on regional and international landscapes, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 has emerged as the linchpin of togetherness with the sole goal of multilateral cooperation and joint development as a “big family” on the world stage.

The SCO summit, scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 1 in Tianjin, China, is also becoming a platform for global governance under the framework of Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) envisaged by President Xi Jinping.

Common development takes priority

As the SCO prepares for its 2025 summit, member states will gather against the backdrop of a rapidly shifting global order. The agenda spans pressing issues, from climate resilience and biodiversity protection to digital connectivity, trade facilitation, and regional security cooperation.

The SCO summit is framed as a counterweight to “hegemonism and power politics.” At a press briefing, Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said the event aims to “stimulate momentum for cooperation” and leverage the SCO’s resilience to respond to “uncertain and unpredictable factors in the international environment.”

Key outcomes of the SCO summit will include a declaration by SCO member states leaders at the summit, as well as the approval of a development strategy for the organization for the next 10 years.

The summit will also issue statements marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and the 80th founding anniversary of the United Nations, and adopt a series of outcome documents on strengthening security, economic, people-to-people and cultural cooperation.

Since 2001, the SCO community has undergone notable changes. The summit is likely to advance initiatives for deeper economic integration, including proposals for an SCO Development Bank and local currency clearance systems. Energy cooperation will also gain momentum. A 2030 energy roadmap will focus on renewables, climate resilience, and sustainable growth.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has described the Tianjin summit as a turning point, marking the SCO’s entry into a “new stage of high-quality development” defined by solidarity and productivity.

The SCO, established in 2001 in Shanghai by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has expanded from a regional organization into a trans-regional organization with 10 full members, two observer countries, and 14 dialogue partners.

Intertwined by sustainable shared goals with a closely linked future, countries across the Eurasian continent have been working as partners instead of competitors. Their working relationships are conspicuously producing results in areas such as transport infrastructure, green energy, food security, supply chains, along with jointly combating the “three evil forces” of terrorism, extremism and separatism. Addressing menace of three evils and drug trafficking, they are engaged in conducting combined counter-terrorism military exercises and establishing dialogue mechanisms at various levels, exerting all-out efforts to mitigate security risks.

Over the years, the SCO has also taken a centre stage in the development of Belt and Road cooperation. Over the past decade, Chinese leadership has initiated and promoted the BRI to foster cooperation among SCO countries and to expedite their development trajectory.

Initiative of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, singed in 2024, is another feather in the cap of the BRI. President Xi Jinping pointed out that the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is a strategic project of connectivity between China and Central Asia, and a landmark project of Belt and Road cooperation among the three countries.

Being SCO member countries, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have been brimming with opportunity to capitalize the BRI’s “railway initiative,” as once completed, the project will become a new transport route linking Asia to Europe and the Persian Gulf countries, which is of great significance to promoting connectivity and strengthening economic and trade exchanges among the countries along the route and in the region as a whole.

Located in the heartland of the Asian continent, these countries’ development has long been constrained by a lack of ports. After completion, the railway will shorten the time needed to transport Central Asian products to major global markets and facilitate the integration of Central Asia with the global industrial and supply chains, thus boosting regional development.

Kazakhstan, one of the beneficiaries of the “China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline,” needs to keep the entire operation in shape with an improved check and balance system.

In December 2009, Line A of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline was put into operation, followed by Line B in October 2010 and Line C in May 2014. Since then, natural gas from Central Asia has been continuously flowing to regions along the pipeline route into China.

It supplies industrial and residential gas to over 500 million people in China’s 25 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and Hong Kong SAR. Currently, the gas transported through this pipeline accounts for 13 percent of China’s annual domestic consumption. Any interruption in the natural gas supply will lead to the loss of stable gas access for tens of millions of households and businesses.

China-Pakistan cooperation sets a good example

Pakistan is active in playing an integral and multidimensional role within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), working in the areas of security coordination, economic connectivity, poverty alleviation, and sustainable development.

As a front-line state in counter-terrorism, Pakistan’s avid involvement in the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) is of crucial significance. The country is gearing up to serve as the rotating chairman of RATS from 2025 to 2026, uplifting its leadership in intelligence sharing and coordinated regional security operations.

Regarding Afghanistan, Pakistan plays a central role in the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group, promoting regional dialogue and urging member states to offer economic support to the war-torn country, helping to stabilize the broader region.

Economically, Pakistan has positioned itself as a connectivity hub. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—a flagship Belt and Road Initiative project—has not only boosted domestic infrastructure but also linked Central Asian nations to the Indian Ocean, deepening regional trade integration. The importance of CPEC was formally acknowledged in the Joint Communiqué of the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government held in Islamabad, where it was included in the SCO’s broader regional connectivity strategy.

Pakistan also leads on the social development front. As permanent chair of the SCO Special Working Group on Poverty, the country spearheaded the “Digital Social Safety Net” framework using China’s big data technology. This initiative has already supported 2.3 million low-income families and aims to expand to other member countries by 2026.

Agricultural cooperation has also flourished. In collaboration with China’s Northwest A&F University, Pakistan established a joint laboratory for stress-resistant crop breeding. The partnership has yielded drought-resistant cotton and cold-tolerant wheat varieties, which are now adopted in Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian countries—resulting in 30 percent higher grain yields.

Despite facing internal economic pressures and external geopolitical challenges, Pakistan remains committed to the SCO’s vision. With several initiatives lined up under the “Sustainable Development Year” program in 2025, the country is expected to emerge as a model for South-South cooperation.

China does a good job as the rotating presidency

Following the SCO Astana Summit in 2024, China once again took the charge of the rotating presidency, with the summit scheduled to take place in Tianjin from August 31 to September 1.

It is the fifth time that China hosts the SCO Summit. The 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO and the “SCO Plus” meeting will welcome leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organizations.

“The SCO is our shared home,” Chinese President Xi Jinping once said. From time to time, the Chinese leader would describe the SCO’s growing membership as a “big family.”

As a shared home and a big family, the SCO is always open and inclusive. It features non-alliance, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third party. That starkly contrasts with exclusive clubs of nations driven by ideological bloc confrontation.

On the economic front, trade and investment ties between China and other SCO members and among all SCO members have become increasingly robust, with cooperation spanning across sectors such as infrastructure, energy, agriculture and technology, enhancing the well-being of the people across the region.

In 2024, China’s trade with other SCO members, observer states and dialogue partners reached a historic high of $890 billion, or 14.4 percent of the country’s total foreign trade. In the same year, the number of China-Europe freight trains passing through the SCO countries and regions reached 19,000, an increase of 10.7 percent compared with 2023. The upcoming SCO Summit in Tianjin will undoubtedly bring the trade volume to a historic new high.

The article reflects the author’s opinions, and not necessarily the views of China Focus.