Continuing his remarkable penchant for messaging, President Xi Jinping Monday once again used the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025 to not only showcase the Chinese quest for inclusive multilateralism but also the leadership that his country is providing to the global South.
Whether bilateral meetings or the inaugural summit of the SCO at the port city of Tianjin, XI had unambiguous message of the need for unity, mutually beneficial policies and multilateralism.
“Member state should pursue mutual benefit and win-win results. We need to better align our development strategies and promote the high-quality implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Xi said while addressing the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO held at Tianjin.
In an indirect reference to the economies of both Russia and India, Xi called on the member states to leverage the strengths of their mega-sized markets and economic complementarity among them by improving trade and investment facilitation. ■
Xi also urged member states to operationalize the SCO Universal Center for Countering Security Threats and Challenges and the SCO Anti-drug Center as well as an SCO development bank to provide stronger underpinnings for security and economic cooperation.
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.
In his meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the port city of Tianjin ahead of the SCO Summit, President Xi reiterated that multilateralism, solidarity and cooperation are the right answer to global challenges and that China will remain steadfast in its support for upholding these ideals.
“There is a need to restore the UN’s authority and vitality under new circumstances, so that it can serve as the main platform for all countries to coordinate actions and jointly address challenges,” the President said during his meeting with the UN Chief, who admitted that “multilateralism, international law, and the UN’s authority are currently facing challenges and the international governance architecture is in urgent need of reform.”
Guterres hailed China as a “cornerstone in defending multilateralism, and that the UN is willing to strengthen cooperation with China to promote world multipolarization, enhance the representation of developing countries, and enable the UN to play a greater role in international affairs.
As far as India, Xi turned the occasion into a diplomatic offensive, warmly receiving Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi without showing any strains of past tensions or displeasure.
“Both China and India are cooperation partners, not rivals, and that the two countries are each other’s development opportunities rather than threats,” Xi told Modi in their bilateral meeting. Once again Xi drew on traditional Chinese symbolism to underscore the importance of relations within the region.
A “cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant” should be the right choice for the two countries,” Xi said, adding the two countries need to view and handle bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective.
