Remarks by China at 23rd SCO Meeting, Islamabad

Remarks by H.E. Li Qiang Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China at the 23rd Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

H.E. Li Qiang

Islamabad, October 16, 2024

Your Excellency Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif,
Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure to meet you in Islamabad, the beautiful “city of gardens.” At the outset, I wish to express my appreciation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the government of Pakistan for your meticulous preparations and thoughtful arrangements for this meeting. I welcome Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko of Belarus, a new member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Over the past year, governments of the member states of the SCO have actively responded to and implemented the common understandings of the Council of Heads of State, carried out solid cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, security and people-to-people exchanges, reached dozens of cooperation documents, and formulated more than 10 reform measures. Fruitful outcomes have been achieved. The member states have forged ahead steadily and side by side on a collective journey to promote security and development. Unlike most international organizations, the SCO has both a Council of Heads of State and a Council of Heads of Government. As it happens, the specific institutional design, with the Council of Heads of State drawing up the blueprint and the Council of Heads of Government focusing on implementation, has been effective, practical and efficient, and has made the SCO an important platform for maintaining peace and stability in the region and promoting development and prosperity of nations.

At the Astana Summit held last July, President Xi Jinping and fellow leaders of member states reached important understandings on jointly building a common home of the SCO featuring solidarity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness and friendship, and fairness and justice. This endeavor to build a common home is driven by the values we all share; it focuses on the tough issues we all face, and will help create a future we all desire. In my view, this common vision entails efforts in the following five aspects:

First, efforts to build an even more solid political foundation. The fundamental reason why the SCO has stayed vibrant since its inception is that we have upheld the Shanghai Spirit, a vital political consensus, and endeavored to be trustworthy and reliable partners for each other. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, SCO cooperation in various fields will move forward steadily as long as the Shanghai Spirit remains entrenched.

Second, efforts to provide more reliable security safeguards. As we speak, geopolitical conflicts, power politics and acts of bullying continue to undermine regional peace and stability, while on such fronts as cyber security and biosecurity, new threats and new challenges continue to emerge. No country is immune, and the only true security is security for all. Only by further improving the mechanisms and tools to tackle threats and challenges can we provide better safeguards for common development.

Third, efforts to foster closer economic bonds. The SCO’s continuous expansion of membership in recent years has created more notable economic complementarity among member states. By deepening our economic ties, resisting external attempts of pulling us apart, and tapping into and pooling our respective strengths in resources, market and industries, we will be able to foster even stronger synergy for development.

Fourth, efforts to cultivate stronger emotional bonds. Our region is home to diverse and splendid civilizations, where different nations and cultures have interacted and converged with each other throughout the course of history and coexisted in harmony. This has been the source of popular support for cooperation among SCO member states. We need to further promote mutual learning among civilizations and cultural exchanges so as to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the people of SCO member states.

Fifth, efforts to boost coordination in multilateral fora. Embracing 26 countries from three continents, the SCO family is a constructive force that carries important global influence. With our commitment to the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter, and our enhanced communication and coordinated actions, SCO member states will better rally the developing world in promoting a more just and equitable global order.

As president of the SCO for 2024-2025, China has introduced “Upholding the Shanghai Spirit: SCO on the Move” as our slogan. The goal is to engender effective actions among ourselves to deliver on the agreement of our heads of state and realize the vision of building a common home featuring solidarity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness and friendship, and fairness and justice. In this connection, China proposes the following four points.

First, enhancing strategic synergy for our shared purpose. Pursuing peaceful development is the abiding purpose of the SCO. We should stay grounded in the fundamental and long-term interests of the region, bear in mind the big picture and keep external disruptions at bay. Our best efforts must be directed toward mapping out the SCO’s development strategy for the next decade and drawing up roadmaps for cooperation in various areas. Member states should step up strategic communication, bridge differences and boost mutual trust through dialogue, and pool strengths for unity.

Second, expanding practical cooperation in line with development needs. The year 2025 will be the SCO Year of Sustainable Development. China stands ready to deepen cooperation with all sides in poverty reduction, digital economy and green development, to generate sustained momentum for development. We should continue to draw impetus from openness and cooperation, boost the region’s trade and investment facilitation and connectivity, and maintain stable and smooth industrial and supply chains. Active efforts should be made to establish an SCO development bank in order to provide financing support for countries in their pursuit of development.

Third, proactively addressing major risks. Our region continues to face grave security issues. The fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism remains a long-term, arduous task, and various challenges lie ahead in such areas as safeguarding information security and combating transnational organized crime. China stands ready to work with all sides to strengthen intelligence sharing and joint operations, move faster to build a universal center to address the challenges and threats to the security of SCO member states and the Anti-Drug Center, and strive for major outcomes at next year’s summit, so that we can put in place new platforms and a new architecture for regional security cooperation.

Fourth, expanding people-to-people exchange to meet popular expectations. We should fully leverage the role of the SCO Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, develop an effective SCO digital education alliance, organize excellent events under our flagship programs such as the Forum on People-to-People Friendship and the Forum on Friendship Cities, the Forum on Women, and the Art Exhibition of Young Artists, and increase our peoples’ participation and sense of fulfillment, to keep people-to-people friendship strong for generations to come.

Colleagues,

As an ancient Chinese saying goes, “Those who take real actions are more likely to succeed, and those who hit the road are more likely to reach the destination.” Let’s continue to carry forward the Shanghai Spirit, pull together, and take practical and determined steps. Let’s get on the move to deliver on our responsibility, build prosperity and usher in a better future for our common home.

Thank you.

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