Tianjin: The 25th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit formally kicked off here on Sunday night with a massive banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was attended, among others, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Xi accompanied by his wife, Peng Liyuan, hosted the banquet in China’s port city of Tianjin to welcome international guests.
This year’s summit was stated to be the largest 10-member SCO group as China, which holds the Presidency of the organisation this year, has invited 20 foreign leaders and 10 heads of international organisations, including the UN Secretary General António Guterres.
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The summit meeting will be held on Monday at a specially designated convention centre where the leaders of the 10-member grouping, along with invited leaders, will deliver speeches.
The speech of Prime Minister Modi will be keenly watched for its content in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s tariff war and his meeting with Xi on Saturday, which was widely expected to provide a new road map for the ties.
In his welcome banquet address, Xi said the SCO bears greater responsibilities in safeguarding regional peace and stability, and for boosting the development of various countries in a world of increasing uncertainties and accelerated changes.
Addressing the banquet, Xi expressed confidence that with concerted efforts of all parties, the summit will be a complete success, and that the SCO is certain to play an even bigger role and achieve more progress, making a greater contribution to boosting the unity and cooperation among member states, pooling the strength of the Global South and pushing for more progress of human civilisation.
Founded in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has expanded from six founding members into a 26-nation family of 10 members, two observers and 14 dialogue partners spanning Asia, Europe and Africa.
With major emerging markets and developing countries such as China, Russia and India among its members, the SCO represents nearly half of the world’s population and a quarter of the global economy.
The Tianjin summit is the largest-ever annual summit of the group. Member states are expected to adopt key documents, including the organisation’s development strategy for the next decade.
Prior to the summit, Xi held more than a dozen bilateral meetings with arriving leaders in Tianjin, including one with Modi.
Xi told the guests at the banquet that as an open and inclusive city, Tianjin serves as a pioneering zone for China’s reform and opening-up, and hosting the summit here will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the sustainable development of the SCO.
Tianjin, regarded as one of China’s high-tech cities, was totally deserted during the past few days, with residents either staying indoors or moving out temporarily.
Besides 20 foreign leaders, the city is also hosting over 3000 journalists descended on this from all over China and the world.
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