Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a welcome banquet on June 9 for visiting heads of state in the coastal city of Qingdao for the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit.

In his speech, Xi expounded Chinese traditional world outlook by quoting words from Confucian classics, "a just cause should be pursued for the common good" and champions harmony, unity and a shared community for all nations. Its emphasis on unity and harmony has much in common with the “Shanghai Spirit”, he said.

Since establishment, the SCO, a new-type, post-Cold War organization, has been pursuing mutually beneficial cooperation and obtained remarkable achievements, which won it wide endorsement and support from international society.

The SCO Charter, published in 2002, stipulates the fundamental principles for member states to carry out regional cooperation: “mutual respect of sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of states and inviolability of state borders, non-aggression, non-interference in internal affairs, non-use of force or threat of its use in international relations, seeking no unilateral military superiority in adjacent areas;

“equality of all member states, search of common positions on the basis of mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them;

“gradual implementation of joint activities in the spheres of mutual interest;

“SCO being not directed against other states and international organizations.”

These principles epitomize the new concepts that the SCO is based on, and also reflect the instillation of traditional Chinese culture to the “Shanghai Spirit”. 

The SCO region is one of the most culturally diverse in the world, with huge differences among nations and cultures. After India and Pakistan joined the big family last year, the SCO covers over 60 percent of the Eurasian land mass and represents 40 percent of the world population. In such a vast region live more than 200 ethnic groups, with more than 10 religious beliefs held and over 100 languages being spoken. It is therefore crucial for the SCO to encourage mutual understanding, respect and appreciation between member states, so as to promote pragmatic cooperation and common development. 

At the large-scale meeting on June 10, Xi stressed that while we keep hearing such rhetoric as the clash of civilizations or the superiority of one civilization over another, it is the diversity of civilizations that sustains human progress. Indeed, mutual learning between different cultures is a shared aspiration of all peoples. 

With the admission of India and Pakistan, representatives of the rich and unique South Asian culture, the SCO will carry forward cultural exchanges and public diplomacy in an expanded region, a key cooperation area after the Qingdao Summit. 

As we know, the SCO is an organization composing of developing countries. China, Russia and India are also members of BRICS. All SCO members have strong aspirations for a better development environment and global governance in face of major political and economic adjustment worldwide. As a model of new-type international cooperation mechanism, the SCO has not only made noticeable success in security, economy and people-to-people exchanges, it has also explored a set of thoughts and practices for regional governance.

The key for the SCO success lies in it sets issues and threats of common concerns as goals and create common ground for all. It is a consensus among the member states that they must work together to safeguard and expand common development environment and follow the principles of extensive consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits. In this way, the SCO has ingeniously tackled the difficulties facing global governance in common value, governing body, and rules formulation. Though the contribution to global governance is within the region, it’s foreseeable that all success and experience the SCO will have in future are sure to inspire the international community in exploring the path of global governance .

As Xi said at the welcome banquet, the SCO has become “an important force for upholding regional security, promoting common development and improving global governance”.

Xu Tao is a research fellow of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, director of Eurasian Social Development Institute of Development Research Center of the State Council, and guest researcher of the National Strategy Institute, Tsinghua University.  He contributes this article to China Watch exclusively. 

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