Chinese President Xi Jinping urged Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states Monday to leverage the strength of their "mega-size markets," stressing economic cooperation amid US tariffs.
Xi made the remarks in his opening address at the 25th SCO summit of heads of state and government in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the leaders of the bloc who are attending.
The SCO is composed of 10 member states, two observer states and 14 dialogue partners, for a total of 26 countries.
"The SCO member states are all friends and partners," Xi said, calling on the member states to respect their differences, maintain strategic communication, build a consensus and strengthen solidarity and collaboration.
His statement came amid US tariffs that have roiled international markets as Washington seeks bilateral yet favorable deals with UN member nations.
Calling on the member states to uphold "fairness" and "justice," he said: "We must promote a correct historical perspective on World War II and oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying practices."
Urging “mutual benefit and win-win results,” Xi called for safeguarding the UN-centered international system and supporting the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core.
He emphasized that member states of the SCO should seek "common ground" while putting aside differences.
With China marking Victory Day against Japanese aggression on Sept. 3 and commemorating 80 years since the UN’s founding, Xi called on the SCO member states to “promote a correct historical perspective on World War II and oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying practices.”
He said the SCO comprises 26 countries in different forms of partnership, with cooperation spanning over 50 areas and a combined economic output of nearly $30 trillion.
"Its international influence and appeal are increasing day by day," he noted, calling for “openness and inclusiveness.”
"We need to align our development strategies better and promote the high-quality implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative," he added.
Call for establishing SCO development bank
The 72-year-old Chinese leader also urged the bloc to take steps toward setting up an SCO development bank “as soon as possible.”
It will “provide stronger underpinnings for security and economic cooperation among member states,” he said.
Later, a joint statement dubbed the Tianjin Declaration reaffirmed the importance of establishing an SCO development bank, and the “interested member states decided to establish it and intensify consultations on a range of issues related to the functioning of this financial institution.”
Xi also pledged 2 billion yuan ($280.4 million) in grants to member states of the SCO within this year.
He said China, the world’s second-largest economy, will also issue an additional 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in loans to the member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years.
He noted that China’s investment stock in other SCO member states “exceeded $84 billion, and its annual bilateral trade with other SCO member states has surpassed $500 billion.”
“Let us stay true to the SCO’s founding mission, step up to undertake our duties, promote the sound and sustained development of the SCO with greater resolve and more practical measures, and march steadily toward a brighter tomorrow of a community with a shared future for humanity,” Xi told the bloc.
