Xi Jinping Attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads ...

On the morning of July 4, 2024 local time, President Xi Jinping attended the 24th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana.

The meeting was chaired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, the  current holder of the rotating presidency of the SCO, and attended by the presidents of SCO member states, including President Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belarus, President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, and Acting President Mohammad Mokhber of Iran, as well as representative of India and Secretary General of the SCO.

Xi Jinping took a group photo with leaders of the SCO member states, and attended the meeting of the Council of Heads of State.

Xi Jinping spoke highly of Kazakhstan's positive efforts and significant contributions in improving the operational mechanism of the SCO and deepening cooperation in various fields during its rotating presidency, and welcomed Belarus’ participation in the SCO summit as a member state for the first time.

Xi Jinping pointed out that the SCO was founded at the turn of the century when the confrontation and division left over from the Cold War had yet to be overcome. The SCO founding members made a historic decision to pursue peaceful development, commit themselves to good-neighborliness and friendship and build a new type of international relations, and the "Shanghai Spirit" has become a shared value and guiding principle for its member states. Twenty-three years after its founding, the membership of the SCO has increased to 10, and the foundation for SCO cooperation has become more solid as more partners have joined the "SCO big family" which now covers 26 countries on three continents. As the world is faced with accelerating changes unseen in a century, human society is again standing at a crossroads in history. It is of crucial importance to the world that the SCO stands on the right side of history and on the side of fairness and justice.

In the face of the real threat from the Cold War mentality, the SCO members should uphold the baseline of security. Xi called on the SCO members to adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, address complex and intertwined security challenges through dialogue and coordination, and respond to the profound changes in the international landscape with a win-win approach, so as to build a world of enduring peace and universal security.

In the face of the real risks of "small yard, high fences", the SCO members should safeguard the right to development. Xi called on the SCO members to uphold the principle of universal benefit and inclusiveness, join hands to push for scientific and technological innovation, keep industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, stimulate the internal impetus of regional economies, and work toward the goal of common development.

In the face of the real challenges of interference and division, the SCO members should consolidate unity. Xi called on the SCO members to jointly oppose external interference, firmly support each other, accommodate each other's concerns, handle internal differences with a spirit of harmony, resolve cooperation difficulties by seeking common ground while reserving differences, and keep their future and the peace and development of the region firmly in their own hands.

Xi Jinping stressed that the fundamental reason that the SCO has been able to withstand the test of the changing international landscape lies in the fact that the SCO members have remained committed to the fine tradition of solidarity and coordination, adhered to the principles of equality and mutual benefit in cooperation, upheld the values of fairness and justice, and stayed broad-minded and inclusive and embraced mutual learning. Xi called on the member states to stay true to the founding aspiration of the organization, continue to hold high the banner of the "Shanghai Spirit", stand in solidarity and help each other succeed, and work jointly to keep the development of the SCO to the right direction, so as to build the organization into a reliable backbone for the common prosperity and vitalization of its member states.

Leaders of the SCO member states attending the meeting spoke positively of the constructive role of the SCO in safeguarding regional peace and security, and voiced readiness to further strengthen cooperation in such areas as trade, transportation, energy, finance, agriculture, digital economy and scientific and technological innovation, as well as to deepen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism and youth, among others. Noting that the current global political and economic situation as well as international relations are undergoing major changes, the leaders held that the United Nations should play a central coordinating role in promoting the building of a more representative, democratic and equitable multipolar world system, and pushing for a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. They called for respecting the legitimate security concerns of all countries, staying committed to resolving differences and disputes between countries through peaceful means, and opposing unilateral sanctions and interference in other countries' internal affairs. The leaders agreed to improve the SCO mechanism for dealing with security threats and challenges, resolutely combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crimes, support the efforts of the international community to achieve peace and development in Afghanistan, and support a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question based on the two-State solution.

Leaders of the SCO member states signed and issued the Astana Declaration of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, approved the SCO initiative calling for solidarity among countries to promote world justice, harmony and development, as well as a proposal to improve the operational mechanism of the SCO, and issued a statement on the principles of good-neighbourliness, mutual trust and partnership and a series of resolutions on cooperation in areas such as energy, investment, and information security.

The meeting formally approved Belarus' accession to the SCO, and decided that China will assume the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025.

Cai Qi and Wang Yi, among others, attended the above events.