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Xi Jinping Attends the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Date: 2024-07-05
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs The People's Republic of China
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On the morning of July  4, 2024 local time, President Xi Jinping attended the 24th meeting of  the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization  (SCO) at the Independence Palace in Astana.

The  meeting was chaired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan,  the  current holder of the rotating presidency of the SCO, and attended  by the presidents of SCO member states, including President Aleksandr  Lukashenko of Belarus, President Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, Prime  Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, President Vladimir Putin  of Russia, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Shavkat  Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan, and Acting President Mohammad Mokhber of Iran,  as well as representative of India and Secretary General of the SCO.

Xi Jinping took a group photo with leaders of the SCO member states, and attended the meeting of the Council of Heads of State.

Xi  Jinping spoke highly of Kazakhstan's positive efforts and significant  contributions in improving the operational mechanism of the SCO and  deepening cooperation in various fields during its rotating presidency,  and welcomed Belarus’ participation in the SCO summit as a member state  for the first time.

Xi  Jinping pointed out that the SCO was founded at the turn of the century  when the confrontation and division left over from the Cold War had yet  to be overcome. The SCO founding members made a historic decision to  pursue peaceful development, commit themselves to good-neighborliness  and friendship and build a new type of international relations, and the  "Shanghai Spirit" has become a shared value and guiding principle for  its member states. Twenty-three years after its founding, the membership  of the SCO has increased to 10, and the foundation for SCO cooperation  has become more solid as more partners have joined the "SCO big family"  which now covers 26 countries on three continents. As the world is faced  with accelerating changes unseen in a century, human society is  again standing at a crossroads in history. It is of crucial importance  to the world that the SCO stands on the right side of history and on the  side of fairness and justice.

In  the face of the real threat from the Cold War mentality, the SCO  members should uphold the baseline of security. Xi called on the SCO  members to adhere to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative  and sustainable security, address complex and intertwined security  challenges through dialogue and coordination, and respond to the  profound changes in the international landscape with a win-win approach,  so as to build a world of enduring peace and universal security.

In  the face of the real risks of "small yard, high fences", the SCO  members should safeguard the right to development. Xi called on the SCO  members to uphold the principle of universal benefit and inclusiveness,  join hands to push for scientific and technological innovation, keep  industrial and supply chains stable and smooth, stimulate the internal  impetus of regional economies, and work toward the goal of common  development.

In the  face of the real challenges of interference and division, the SCO  members should consolidate unity. Xi called on the SCO members to  jointly oppose external interference, firmly support each other,  accommodate each other's concerns, handle internal differences with a  spirit of harmony, resolve cooperation difficulties by seeking common  ground while reserving differences, and keep their future and the peace  and development of the region firmly in their own hands.

Xi  Jinping stressed that the fundamental reason that the SCO has been able  to withstand the test of the changing international landscape lies in  the fact that the SCO members have remained committed to the fine  tradition of solidarity and coordination, adhered to the principles of  equality and mutual benefit in cooperation, upheld the values of  fairness and justice, and stayed broad-minded and inclusive and embraced  mutual learning. Xi called on the member states to stay true to  the founding aspiration of the organization, continue to hold high the  banner of the "Shanghai Spirit", stand in solidarity and help each other  succeed, and work jointly to keep the development of the SCO to the  right direction, so as to build the organization into a reliable  backbone for the common prosperity and vitalization of its member  states.

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Leaders of the SCO  member states attending the meeting spoke positively of the constructive  role of the SCO in safeguarding regional peace and security, and voiced  readiness to further strengthen cooperation in such areas as trade,  transportation, energy, finance, agriculture, digital economy and  scientific and technological innovation, as well as to deepen  people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in education, culture,  tourism and youth, among others. Noting that the current global  political and economic situation as well as international relations are  undergoing major changes, the leaders held that the United Nations  should play a central coordinating role in promoting the building of a  more representative, democratic and equitable multipolar world system,  and pushing for a universally beneficial and inclusive economic  globalization. They called for respecting the legitimate security  concerns of all countries, staying committed to resolving differences  and disputes between countries through peaceful means, and opposing  unilateral sanctions and interference in other countries' internal  affairs. The leaders agreed to improve the SCO mechanism for dealing  with security threats and challenges, resolutely combat the "three  forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking and  transnational organized crimes, support the efforts of the international  community to achieve peace and development in Afghanistan, and support a  comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question based on  the two-State solution.

Leaders  of the SCO member states signed and issued the Astana Declaration of  the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,  approved the SCO initiative calling for solidarity among countries to  promote world justice, harmony and development, as well as a proposal to  improve the operational mechanism of the SCO, and issued a statement on  the principles of good-neighbourliness, mutual trust and partnership  and a series of resolutions on cooperation in areas such as energy,  investment, and information security.

The  meeting formally approved Belarus' accession to the SCO, and decided  that China will assume the rotating presidency of the SCO for 2024-2025.

Cai Qi and Wang Yi, among others, attended the above events.

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