The 19th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit on Thursday and Friday in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, brings together eight heads of state to discuss major issues of development. The theme of the summit is to execute the results of the Qingdao Summit, pursue new development in the new stage, safeguard regional security, stability and development, improve regional and global governance and make new contributions to the community with a shared future for mankind.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of drastic changes in Eastern Europe, the 28th anniversary of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 23rd anniversary of the Shanghai Five mechanism and 18th anniversary of the SCO. If the initial years of the Shanghai Five, which was established in 1996 and eventually evolved into the SCO, are included, the SCO has developed over nearly a quarter of a century in a world of unprecedented changes. In its 20 years of existence, the SCO has kept with the trend of peace and development and led contemporary theories and practices of international relations toward a new direction. It transcends the civilization clash hypothesis and traditional mentalities of security, a zero-sum game and confrontation. The Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development that is endorsed by the SCO, is demonstrating epoch-making significance in international relations.

The importance and contribution of the SCO is represented in four aspects:

First, the SCO has become a world-recognized model for international relations and regional cooperation, as it not only helps safeguard security in China's western regions but also serves as a security barrier for Central Asia.

Second, the SCO has become a symbol of China-Russia strategic coordination instead of confrontation in the Central Asia and Eurasia regions.

Third, the SCO is an important force making the regional, global political and economic orders more equitable and reasonable.

Fourth, the SCO's experience of both practice and theory offers an example to the Belt and Road cooperation as it focuses more on high-quality development.

The world is now undergoing changes and transformations unseen in a hundred years, particularly evidenced by the in-depth restructuring of the global economic and political architecture. Against this backdrop, conditions are creating an invaluable opportunity for the SCO's development.

The unilateralism and protectionism of the US may bring it certain limited but unsustainable unilateral benefits on one hand, but will cost it enormous support and endorsement from the international community on the other.

Meanwhile, the milestone Qingdao Summit has added new elements to the Shanghai Spirit. During the 2008 Qingdao Summit, President Xi Jinping put forward five new concepts on development, security, cooperation, civilization and global governance to solve the issues facing the world. In particular, the SCO's concepts of civilization, featuring equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness stress the need to replace civilizational misunderstandings with exchanges, replace conflicts with mutual learning and replace superiority with coexistence. The SCO encourages member nations to respect diversity and their respective features and to engage in learning and exchanges among civilizations. This philosophy of civilization forms a sharp contrast to the theories of civilizational, religious and ideological clashes.

Meanwhile, the SCO champions the principle of consultation and collaboration for shared benefits in global governance, and emphasizes that developed and developing countries should all participate in global governance since no country can isolate itself from the difficulties and disorders in the world. Improved global governance will also mean better regional governance and enhance the domestic governance capacities of all countries. This philosophy of global governance is in sharp contrast to unilateralism and hegemony.

After India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, the SCO has become the regional organization covering the largest population and biggest territory in the world. This means vast potential for the organization's future development.

Close China-Russia coordination could help them stand against the unilateralism and protectionism of the US and some other Western countries. Solidarity among central Asian countries is also something positive. Since India's inclusion into the SCO, it has been taking an active part in relevant activities. The four meetings between the heads of state of China and India in 2018 pushed bilateral relations onto a better track. The US administration's "America first" policy and the US withdrawals from international organizations and multilateral agreements are creating a clear division between itself and Europe, thus creating an increasingly deepening divide among Western developed countries.

These external and internal conditions are helpful to deepened and expanded pragmatic cooperation among SCO member states, in particular economic collaboration to promote growth and improve people's livelihoods.

The author is executive director of SCO Research Center, and deputy secretary-general of Council on China-Russia Strategic Coordination, Chinese Academy of Social Science.

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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