SCO SUMMIT

Current Context : At the 2025 SCO Summit, China announced major financial, technological, and educational initiatives to boost cooperation among member nations.

Relevant Data

Financial Support

• RMB 2 billion (USD 274 million) in grants to SCO members by 2025
• RMB 10 billion (USD 1.37 billion) in loans to SCO Interbank Consortium in 3 years

Livelihood Projects : 100 “Small and Beautiful” Projects in health, sanitation, education, and community welfare

Education and Human Resource

• Doubling of SCO scholarships from 2026
• Launch of SCO Innovative PhD Programme
• 10 Luban Workshops in 5 years
• 10,000 vocational training opportunities in advanced technology

Artificial Intelligence Cooperation

• Tianjin Declaration on responsible AI use
• Adoption of AI Development Cooperation Roadmap (Chengdu, 2025)
• AI showcase: Humanoid Robot “Xiao” assisted delegates

About SCO

• Established: 2001 (successor to “Shanghai Five”, 1996)
• Founding Members: China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
• Expansion:
  • 2017 → India and Pakistan admitted as full members
  • 2023 → Iran became full member
  • 2024 → Belarus joined as full member
• Observers: Afghanistan, Mongolia, Belarus (before full membership)
• Dialogue Partners: Turkey, Egypt, Sri Lanka, UAE, etc.
• Secretariat → Beijing

OBJECTIVES & SIGNIFICANCE

• Promote regional cooperation in:
  • Security → countering terrorism, separatism, extremism (“Three Evils”)
  • Economy → trade, investment, energy, connectivity projects
  • Society → culture, science & technology, environmental protection
• Guided by the “Shanghai Spirit”: mutual trust, equality, consultation, cultural respect, mutual benefit
• Symbolises a multipolar world order, offering a platform for non-Western alignment.