(Source: Guangming.com-Theory Channel 2025-09-02)
On August 31, President Xi Jinping said in his toast at the welcome banquet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit that since its establishment, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has always upheld the "Shanghai Spirit", consolidated unity and mutual trust, deepened practical cooperation, participated in international and regional affairs, and became an important force in promoting the construction of a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
Today, the century-old changes in the world are accelerating. A new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are developing in depth. The international balance of power has been profoundly adjusted. At the same time, the global economic recovery is sluggish, unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, sanctions and barriers are common, and human society is once again standing at the crossroads of history. China's proposal of "building a community with a shared future for mankind" responds to the concerns of the times and the needs of the world, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (hereinafter referred to as the "SCO") is a living example of this concept taking root in Eurasia. Over the past two decades, it has grown from an initial boundary negotiation mechanism to a comprehensive regional organization with the largest territory and largest population today. The "Shanghai Spirit" with the core connotation of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and pursuit of common development" travels across Europe and Asia, illuminating the road to building a community with a shared future for the SCO. The SCO has used its successful practice to effectively prove to the world that countries with different civilizations, different systems, and different sizes can completely forge a new path of international relations through equal dialogue and consultation, which is partnership instead of alliance, dialogue instead of confrontation, and win-win rather than zero-sum.
The "Shanghai Spirit" is the fundamental compliance of the SCO, and its core connotation is highly consistent with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. The political philosophy of "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, and consultation" transcends the Cold War mentality and zero-sum game in traditional international relations, emphasizing sovereign equality and mutual respect, providing a new model for getting along between countries, and laying a practical foundation for the new type of international relations required to build a community with a shared future for mankind; the cultural vision of "respecting diverse civilizations" transcends the theory of clash of civilizations and the theory of superiority of civilizations, and advocates Dialogue and mutual learning between countries with different civilizations and different social systems provides a regional practical model for the civilizational concept of "harmony in diversity and inclusiveness" in the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. The goal orientation of "seeking common development" anchors the focus of cooperation on common development and prosperity, which is in line with the fundamental interests of people of all countries and directly echoes the pursuit of a "commonly prosperous world" by the community with a shared future for mankind. It can be seen that the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind depicts the ideal state and ultimate goal of the development of human society, while the "Shanghai Spirit" is the regional practice and pioneering paradigm of this concept. Together, they point the way for lasting peace and common development of human society.
The value of ideas lies in practice, and the vitality of an organization is reflected in actions. Over the past two decades, the SCO has achieved significant cooperation results in security, economy, humanities and other fields, contributing "SCO wisdom" to regional stability and global governance.
Security cooperation has always been the cornerstone of the SCO.From combating the "three evil forces" to continuing to deepen anti-drug and border defense cooperation, the SCO has gradually established intelligence sharing and joint action mechanisms, and held joint anti-terrorism exercises, significantly improving regional anti-terrorism and stability maintenance capabilities. In addition, SCO cooperation continues to deepen in non-traditional security fields such as joint anti-drug control, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and outer space security.
Safety is the foundation of development, and development is the wings of security. The SCO actively builds a "bridge of prosperity" to promote common regional development,From the signing of the "Outline of Multilateral Economic and w88 Cooperation among Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization" to the specific implementation of measures, the path of cooperation has become increasingly clear. Mechanisms such as banking consortiums, industrialist committees, and economic think tank alliances provide guarantees for the implementation and financial support of regional economic cooperation projects. As the flagship project of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, the China-Europe freight train has become an important economic artery on the Eurasian continent. As of June 2025, China-Europe freight trains have operated more than 110,000 trains, reaching 229 cities in 26 European countries and more than 100 cities in 11 Asian countries, with a cargo value exceeding US$450 billion. In addition, cooperation among SCO member states continues to deepen in areas such as energy, digital economy, and technological innovation. Take the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline as an example. As of November 2024, it has transported more than 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China, benefiting nearly 500 million people. In terms of green energy, the 100-megawatt wind power project in Zanatas, Kazakhstan, which China has invested in, has generated a total of 13.79 kilowatt-hours of electricity as of June 2025, which can meet the electricity needs of 3 million households and is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 289,000 tons. This project not only strengthens regional energy security, but also provides a model for global energy transformation.
The digital economy is increasingly becoming a new engine for the development of the SCO.The online retail market size of SCO member states will exceed US$3.2 trillion in 2024, and China’s cross-border e-commerce imports from SCO member states will increase by 34% year-on-year. Chinese companies are actively participating in regional digital infrastructure. Huawei is promoting 5G network and smart city projects in Russia, Kazakhstan and other places to support smart transportation, digital government and industrial Internet applications. ZTE is participating in the construction of multiple cross-border optical cables and data centers in Central Asia to enhance regional digital connectivity. Alibaba and Ant Group are actively expanding e-commerce and electronic payment businesses, promoting the export of Central Asian goods to China, and assisting the digitalization process of the local financial system.
People-to-people and cultural exchanges are a gentle force that promotes people-to-people bonds and mutual learning among civilizations.The SCO has built transnational exchanges covering education, culture, sports, tourism, media and other fields through projects such as the "SCO University", "Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition" and "SCO Marathon". The scale of exchange of international students between member states has been expanding year by year, and university alliances and joint talent training plans have been solidly advanced. In terms of vocational education cooperation, there are various forms of teaching exploration, from "Luban Workshop" to various vocational training projects. In 2025, the SCO also held the "Intelligence SCO·2025 International Academic Symposium on Vocational Education Governance" in Tianjin. Various cultural festivals, film festivals, and sports events, such as the "SCO Member States Art Festival", "Education Without Borders" and Qingdao's "SCO Summer", have effectively promoted friendly people-to-people exchanges. The 2024 Qingdao "SCO Summer" activity season focuses on cross-cultural dialogue, tourism development, youth exchanges, media cooperation, history and cultural heritage and other fields, and will carry out nearly a hundred special activities in more than 20 categories. In the same year, the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization Youth Development Forum" released the "2024-2025 SCO Youth Exchange and Cooperation Project List", covering 18 projects in the fields of education, culture, sports, talent training, employment and entrepreneurship, economic cooperation, green development, etc., and launched the "Global South" Youth Leaders Program to make the concept of a community of shared future take root in the hearts of young people.
From the banks of the Huangpu River to the banks of the Haihe River, the SCO has spent 24 years exploring a "paradigm of cooperation" for the democratization of international relations. Its principles of "non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third parties" have set a model for a new type of international relations, demonstrated strong inclusiveness and attraction, and gradually become an important increment in improving the global governance system. Standing at a new historical starting point, the SCO will continue to hold high the torch of the "Shanghai Spirit", illuminate the road for the world to work together, and contribute greater "SCO power" to a community with a shared future for mankind.
Author: Zhou Nianli (researcher at the Beijing Institute for Opening up, w88 casino, researcher and doctoral supervisor at the China WTO Research Institute), Li Jinzhe (doctoral candidate at the China WTO Research Institute, w88 casino)
Attached original text link:http://202.204.175.13/cm-sites/pms/framereact/index.html?paramsUUID=3dc82fe1 _cf05_4ebc_8adb_12c7881fa69c#/view/editor/editor/storyEditor/6692019c122ec32ec39520740
