BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was held from June 6-10 in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province. Experts believe that economic cooperation is an important mission of the SCO, and the deepening of Belt and Road construction will accelerate SCO economic cooperation into the fast lane.
-- Achieving fruitful results of SCO over past 17 years
In the past 17 years since the establishment of the SCO, the organization has gradually developed from strengthening military trust to establishing a system focusing on security, economic and humanistic cooperation. SCO has blossomed into an international organization with 8 member states, 4 observer states and 6 dialogue partners, as its international influence continues growing.
At present the SCO has established a meeting mechanism covering a wide range of fields including economic trade, transportation and agriculture, and helped build non-official cooperation platforms such as the China Business Council and Interbank Consortium.
"Over the past 17 years, with concerted efforts from the relevant sides, the SCO has established a model for win-win economic cooperation among emerging regions, and achieved significant results in trade, investment and major project cooperation," said Wang Kaixuan, Deputy Director of the Department of Eurasian Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce.
From 2013 to 2017, China's cumulative imports from SCO member states exceeded 340 billion U.S. dollars. By the end of March, China's total investment in the other SCO member states had reached about 84 billion U.S. dollars, and a number of major energy, mineral and industrial manufacturing projects had advanced smoothly.
The cumulative turnover of projects undertaken by China in the other SCO member states has reached 156.9 billion U.S. dollars, and a number of highway, power station and pipeline projects have become regional demonstration projects.
-- Embracing new opportunities from Belt and Road construction
With its unique geographical advantages, the SCO has been closely tied to the Belt and Road construction. According to analysts, the SCO has played a significant role in connecting the Belt and Road Initiative to other multilateral cooperation initiatives and the other member states' development strategies.
Early results have been achieved in connecting the construction of the Belt and Road to the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union; China has signed the MOU on jointly constructing the "Silk Road Economic Belt" with the SCO member states in Central Asia; and the outline of the plan for constructing the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor was signed as the first multilateral cooperation plan outline under the Belt and Road framework. The deepening of Belt and Road construction has promoted the SCO cooperation into a fast lane.
The SCO member states, observer countries and dialogue partners are mostly emerging economies and developing countries along the Belt and Road. "SCO economic cooperation previously focused on bilateral cooperation, but in recent years, Belt and Road construction has driven regional connectivity, deepened multilateral economic cooperation, promoted full connections from projects to development strategies, and achieved significant results," said Zuo Fengrong, a professor at the Institute for International Strategic Studies of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC.
-- SCO Summit in Qingdao to mark milestone in SCO development
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) currently has entered into a new development period under the complex international situation, and is facing new opportunities and challenges. SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov has recently noted that China played a significant role in opening a new page for the SCO and the SCO Summit in Qingdao will mark a historic milestone in the development process of the SCO.
With the development of the SCO over the past 17 years, China has not only led multilateral cooperation in cooperation concepts, development ideas and target-setting, but also provided specific plans and assumed more responsibility for SCO-member development. In recent one year, China has advanced and successfully hosted important institutional meetings and major multilateral events in fields including security, economic trade, humanities and technology, thus promoting the cooperation among the member states and bringing the SCO into a new stage.
“All the member states and observer states of the SCO are countries along the Belt and Road routes, have not only forged strong bonds of friendship under the banner of Silk Road civilizations, but also established partnerships of mutual benefit and support in the contemporary world pattern,” said Alimov. This year, coinciding with the 5th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, the SCO Summit in Qingdao will further advance the implementation of the initiative. (Edited by Ma Xin, maxin11@xinhua.org)
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