World
SCO summit kicks off: Xi Jinping calls for leveraging mega-market advantages
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged member states to make more effective use of their “mega-market” at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on Monday. He outlined his vision for a new global security and economic order, seen as a challenge to the United States.
The SCO has become “a model for a new type of international relations,” Xi said in a speech at the opening of the two-day summit in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin. His remarks were made in front of more than 20 world leaders.
“We should promote equal and orderly multipolarization, ensure inclusive economic globalization, and contribute to building a more just and balanced global governance system,” the Chinese leader said.
He also said that China will provide 2 billion yuan (about $280 million) in free aid to SCO members this year, as well as 10 billion yuan in loans through the organization’s banking consortium.
“We should use the advantages of our mega-market to improve trade and investment facilitation,” he stressed. Xi called for deepening cooperation in energy, infrastructure, science and technology, as well as artificial intelligence.
The opening ceremony of the summit was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as leaders from other countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, in a sign of solidarity with the Global South.
