As the world finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has just etched a new milestone by convening its largest-ever summit in the vibrant port city of Tianjin, China from August 31 to September 1.
Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has blossomed from six founding members into a family of 26 countries, spanning Asia, Europe and Africa. Beyond this big family, the attendees at Tianjin also included guests of the host country, such as Malaysia, Viet Nam, Indonesia, and representatives from the U.N., the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), ASEAN, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
The summit’s decision to admit Laos as the 27th member of the SCO family underscored the SCO’s continuing momentum of enlargement and deepening solidarity. The organization has become the regional international organization with the broadest geographical coverage and largest population in the world.
Founded in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has blossomed from six founding members into a family of 26 countries, spanning Asia, Europe and Africa.
At a time when the world faces deepening geopolitical fractures, security dilemmas, and the risks of economic decoupling, the fact that this largest-ever Tianjin gathering brought together such a wide and diverse array of participants fully reflects the SCO’s strong internal cohesion and growing international influence.
A quarter century ago, upon its inception, the SCO enshrined its original commitment-the Shanghai Spirit: mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations, and the pursuit of common development.
At the Tianjin summit, President Xi Jinping looked back through the lens of the Shanghai Spirit and recounted four pioneering firsts in the course of the SCO’s development: the first to set up military confidence-building mechanism along the border areas, turning borders into a bond of friendship, mutual trust and cooperation; the first to launch Belt and Road cooperation; the first to conclude a treaty on long-term good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation; and the first to put forth the vision of global governance featuring extensive consultation and joint contribution for shared benefit as an effort to practice true multilateralism.
Carrying this same spirit forward, the Tianjin summit adopted a development strategy for the organization in the 2026-2035 period, a blueprint that could only be drafted by those who remain faithful to their original aspiration of common development. The document maps out priority tasks and directions for all-round cooperation in the coming decade.
Equally telling is the members’ collective decision to establish an SCO Development Bank-an institutional offspring of the Shanghai Spirit’s call for mutual assistance. Expressing firm support for the multilateral trading system, they pledged deeper regional fiscal and financial cooperation. At a time when unilateral sanctions and shrinking aid are unsettling global finance, the bank will not only safeguard collective financial autonomy but also offer a vital platform for global financial reform.
Looking back at the SCO’s development, “genuine multilateralism” stands out as a defining keyword.
At the Tianjin summit, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), which consists of five principles-sovereign equality, rule of law, true multilateralism, people-centered governance and real action. The GGI meets the world’s urgent need for more effective global governance and is strongly supported by the parties attending the summit. Its key messages-rejecting power politics, supporting the U.N.’s central role, and advocating shared development, joint governance and mutual benefit- offers Chinese wisdom to address global challenges.
President Xi urged the SCO to lead by example in putting the GGI into practice. As the first steps, Beijing pledged an array of measures to be implemented within the SCO framework: new platforms for energy, green industry and the digital economy as well as cooperation centers for sci-tech innovation, higher education and vocational and technical education; increased installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power each by 10 million kilowatts; and medical aid covering 500 patients with congenital heart disease, 5,000 cataract operations and 10,000 cancer screenings for fellow members. These measures will empower SCO countries to collectively address transnational challenges while delivering tangible benefits to communities throughout the region. The initiative, hailed by attending leaders and Secretary-General Yermekbayev as one of “profoundly symbolic significance,” aligns fully with the U.N. Charter and positions the SCO as the practical engine of a fairer global order.
In a world still shadowed by conflict and recession, the Shanghai Spirit moves decisively beyond rhetoric, translating its vision into concrete actions toward a more resilient, equitable, and interconnected future. It has found wider resonance across the globe. By embracing true multilateralism and inclusive governance, the SCO is offering the world a sustainable model of cooperation against fragmentation and uncertainty. What emerges from Tianjin is therefore no longer a regional plan, but a promise of well-being for the people, and security and prosperity for the world.
The writer is a Beijing-based analyst of international affairs.