China’s Approach to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Strategies, Progress and Prospects

Deng Hao is Secretary-General of the China Center for SCO Studies and Senior Research Fellow of China Institute of International Studies (CIIS).The article was originally published in Chinese inAcademic Journal of Russian Studies, No.4, 2023.

At the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered an important speech titled “Ride on the Trend of the Times and Enhance Solidarity and Cooperation to Embrace a Better Future.” In the speech, President Xi proposed “five commitments” — commitments to the principles of political trust, winwin cooperation, equality between nations, openness and inclusiveness,and equity and justice.1“Xi Jinping’s Speech at the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Full Text),” Xinhua, September 16, 2022, http://www.news.cn/world/2022-09/16/c_1129008994.htm.The speech tersely summarized the successful development experience of the SCO and pointed out the future direction and path for the organization and other similar new international organizations that it typifies.Today’s world is undergoing historic changes not seen in a century and still suffering from the repercussions of the oncein-a-century pandemic.The crisis in Ukraine is getting protracted and complicated and is likely to drag the world into an uncertain period rife with severe challenges.

Under such a historical backdrop, reviewing China’s history of promoting the SCO’s development can illustrate its primary strategies for the organization’s development in the new era and clarify its future tasks in building the SCO community with a shared future.Such animproved understanding will contribute to implementing the majorcountry diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and ensure the healthy and sustainable development of the SCO.It will also provide strong impetus for addressing the challenges of our times, constructing a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for mankind.

The Chinese Wisdom and Role in the SCO’s Development

The SCO is the first regional intergovernmental organization established with China’s participation.In over 20 years, China has played a critical role in the SCO’s growth by persistently contributing its wisdom and extending its support.2Su Chang, “The Theoretical Construction, Operational Practice of SCO Security Cooperation and China’s Contribution,” Academic Journal of Russian Studies, No.6, 2022.

Proposing and continuously enriching new cooperation concepts

First, China has proposed and constantly enriched the new security concept.In the SCO’s initial phase, known as the “Shanghai Five,” the organization drew upon the experience of China, Russia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in successfully tackling their border security issues.China proposed its new security concept featuring mutual trust,disarmament and cooperative security at that time.3Conforming to the Trend of the Times and Upholding the Shanghai Spirit— Collection of Shanghai Cooperation Organization Documents, World Affairs Press, 2002, p.266.After the founding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2001, China enriched the connotations of the new security concept based on the situation on the ground and the SCO’s experience in security cooperation.In 2004, China advocated that the SCO follow a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination, positing that security should be based on mutual trust and cooperation.The view of security anchored on mutual trust and cooperation was China’s further enrichment of the new security concept based on realities on the ground, which was unanimously supported by SCO member states and became the fundamental guide for the SCO’s security cooperation.At the 14th SCO summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in 2014, President Xi Jinping stated that SCO member states should “implement the Asian security concept that highlights common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.”4Xi Jinping, “Working Together with Sincerity and Dedication to Take SCO to a New Level,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, September 12, 2014, https://www.mfa.gov.cn/eng/wjb_663304/zzjg_663340/dozys_664276/roi/201409/t20140918_555070.html.At the SCO Qingdao summit in 2018, he further pointed out that “We should pursue common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security.We should reject the Cold War mentality and confrontation between blocs and oppose the practices of seeking absolute security of oneself at the expense of others,so as to achieve security of all.”5Xi Jinping, “Carrying Forward the Shanghai Spirit to Build a Community with a Shared Future,”Xinhua, June 10, 2018, http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-06/10/c_137244587.htm.As a further enrichment of the new security concept, the proposal was recognized by all SCO member states and became the common principle for security cooperation upheld by the SCO in the new era.

Second, China has advocated the Shanghai Spirit.The Shanghai Spirit originated from the successful practices of the “Shanghai Five.” As the host country of the first SCO summit held in 2001, China, drawing on the development experience of the “Shanghai Five” and taking into account the evolution of the international situation and the basic features of regional inter-state relations, defined the Shanghai Spirit as “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations, and pursuit of common development.” The Shanghai Spirit was incorporated in the Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and became the fundamental value and code of conduct shared by all SCO members.As a great Chinese contribution to the SCO, the Shanghai Spirit offered advanced ideas for the SCO to overcome the Cold War mentality, the zero-sum game inclination and the clash of civilizations fallacy.At the 18th SCO summit held in Qingdao in 2018, based on new realities and new calls of the international and regional situations of the time, President Xi Jinping proposed “five new concepts” to carry forward the Shanghai Spirit: upholding innovative, coordinated, green, open and inclusive development; pursuing common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; promoting open and inclusive cooperation for win-win outcomes; championing equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness between civilizations; and following the principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration in engaging global governance.6Xi Jinping, “Carrying Forward the Shanghai Spirit to Build a Community with a Shared Future.”The five concepts above briefly summarize the connotations of the Shanghai Spirit in the new era.

Third, China has initiated the idea of a harmonious region.On the 5th anniversary of the SCO’s founding in 2006, China solemnly called on all SCO members to strengthen cooperation and strive to build the SCO into a harmonious region with lasting peace and common prosperity.7“President Hu Jintao’s Speech at the Meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the SCO (Full Text),” Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, June 1, 2006, http://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2006-06/15/content_310825.htm.In 2008, China proposed that building a harmonious region with lasting peace and common prosperity should be adopted as a long-term objective for the SCO.8“President Hu Jintao’s Speech at the 8th Meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the SCO(Full Text),” China Economy, August 28, 2008, http://www.ce.cn/xwzx/gnsz/szyw/200808/28/t20080828_16648743.shtml.In 2011, China further called upon all SCO members to uphold the principle of good-neighborliness and build a harmonious region.It advocated unwavering implementation of the SCO Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and strengthening dialogue and communication on issues regarding member states’ core interests to increase mutual trust and enhance mutual support.China also stressed that all SCO members should commit to the principle of equality among countries regardless of their size, treat each other with sincerity and decide on major issues of the SCO based on consensus.9“President Hu Jintao’s Speech at the 11th Meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the SCO,”Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, June 15, 2011, http://www.gov.cn/ldhd/2011-06/15/content_1884940.htm.The proposals deepened the ethos of building a harmonious region in the new era and enriched the SCO’s political beliefs, and they were warmly received by the member states.The SCO issued the Declaration on the Fifth Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at its 6th summit in 2006, stating that the SCO member states “will continue to tap the potential of the organization, enhance its role and work to turn this region into one that is peaceful, coordinated in development, open, prosperous and harmonious.”10“Declaration on the Fifth Anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China, June 15, 2006, http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2006/content_346287.htm.The SCO issued the Declaration by the Heads of Member States of the SCO on Building a Region of Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity at the 12th SCO summit held in Beijing in 2012, indicating that the Chinese proposal of building a harmonious region was unanimously accepted by SCO member states and became a guideline for action and the official common strategic goal of the SCO.11“The Declaration by the Heads of Member States of the SCO on Building a Region of Lasting Peace and Common Prosperity,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, June 7, 2012, https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/201206/t20120607_679336.html.

Fourth, China has advocated building the SCO community with a shared future.At the 14th SCO summit held in Dushanbe in 2014,President Xi Jinping proposed the new concept of “a community with shared future,” stating that the SCO should “see each other in a common endeavor and a community of shared future and interests.”12Xi Jinping, “Working Together with Sincerity and Dedication to Take SCO to a New Level.”As leader of the rotating chair, President Xi announced the major initiative of building the SCO community with a shared future for the first time at the 18th SCO summit in Qingdao in 2018.13Xi Jinping, “Carrying Forward the Shanghai Spirit to Build a Community with a Shared Future.”At the summit, President Xi also first proposed the “five new concepts” for carrying forward the Shanghai Spirit,which not only injected new meaning into the Shanghai Spirit in the new era but also provided systematic and theoretical guidelines and a fundamental principle for the building of the SCO community with a shared future.At the 19th SCO summit held in Bishkek in 2019, President Xi further proposed to make the SCO an example of solidarity and mutual trust, of common security, of mutually beneficial cooperation, and of inclusiveness and mutual learning, namely the “four examples.”14Xi Jinping, “Staying Focused and Taking Solid Actions for a Brighter Future of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, June 14, 2019, https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng./wjdt_665385/zyjh_665391/201906/t20190614_678749.html.The “four examples”clearly answered what kind of SCO community with a shared future to build and identified the goals and tasks of building such a community.At the 20th SCO summit held via video link in 2020, President Xi called upon building “four communities,” including the community of health,of security, of development, and of cultural exchanges for all.15Xi Jinping, “Carrying Forward the Shanghai Spirit and Deepening Solidarity and Collaboration for a Stronger Community with a Shared Future,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, November 10, 2020,https://www.mfa.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt_665385/zyjh_665391/202011/t20201110_678924.html.At the 21st SCO summit in Dushanbe in 2021 when the organization celebrated its 20th anniversary, on the SCO’s future development in the new historic era,President Xi suggested the SCO should follow the five journeys of enhancing solidarity and cooperation, of upholding common security, of promoting openness and integration, of boosting interactions and mutual learning,and of upholding equity and justice.16“Full Text of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Remarks at 21st SCO Meeting,” Xinhua, September 17,2021, http://www.news.cn/english/2021-09/17/c_1310193930.htm.Stemming from the same origin but progressively reinforcing each other, the “five new concepts,” the “four examples,” the “four communities,” as well as the “five journeys” advocated by President Xi have made the concept of the SCO community with a shared future increasingly systematic, thus forming a comprehensive and complete value chain with built-in connections.The proposals demonstrate China’s persistent exploration and innovation in building the SCO community with a shared future and have made important contributions to constructing the SCO values system.

Actively promoting institutional building

Since the SCO’s founding, China has been dedicated to the organization’s institutional building, advocating the establishment of the SCO Secretariat and the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure.China also provided the SCO Secretariat with free office space and financial support in 2004.Upon the joint initiative of China, Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries, the SCO Interbank Consortium and the SCO Business Council were established.In institutional building, the SCO passed the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation in 2007 upon the Chinese initiative.As a fundamental framework legal document that is of equal importance as the SCO Charter, the Treaty established the code of conduct for all SCO members, laying the solid legal foundation for their friendly coexistence and ensuring they would never be enemies against one another.In 2014, upon China’s initiative, the SCO signed the Agreement among the Governments of the SCO Member States on International Road Transport Facilitation, providing the SCO connectivity construction with a solid legal basis and taking an important step in facilitating economic cooperation and trade among SCO member states.Again on the initiative of China, the SCO signed the world’s first specialized intergovernmental convention against extremism in 2017, which provided legal weapons for the SCO members to fight against extremism and deepen security cooperation.

Engaging in meticulous strategic planning

Upon China’s initiative, the SCO issued the Medium- and Longterm Development Strategy of the SCO in 2012.As the first medium- and long-term development strategy since the SCO’s founding, the document signified that cooperation among SCO members reached a new high and the organization was increasingly mature.Based on this strategy, the SCO issued the Development Strategy of the SCO Until 2025, establishing the principles, tasks and objectives of cooperation among SCO members in the coming decade.At the 18th SCO summit in 2018, the Qingdao Declaration was adopted, urging all SCO members to carry forward the Shanghai Spirit,embrace the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and take an active part in global governance.

Vigorously enhancing cooperation in all areas

China has actively promoted security cooperation among SCO members and participated in joint anti-terrorist military exercises with other SCO members.It also transformed the Sino-Russian military exercise into the multilateral SCO “Peace Mission” anti-terrorist drill.Since 2015,China has hosted multiple joint online anti-terrorism exercises, which was initiated by the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure Council, in Xiamen.China established the National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation in 2017, aiming to boost judicial cooperation and establish a platform for training judicial and law enforcement personnel in SCO member states.At the Samarkand summit in 2022, President Xi announced that China would train 2,000 law enforcement personnel for SCO member states in the next five years and establish a China-SCO base for training counter-terrorism personnel.In the economic sphere, China’s cumulative investment in the SCO had reached US$85 billion by 2021.At the 2021 summit commemorating the 20th anniversary of the SCO,President Xi announced that after completing the initial RMB30 billion yuan equivalent special lending facility set up in 2018, China would launch the second phase of the special lending facility to promote Belt and Road cooperation.President Xi also stated that China would strive to reach$2.3 trillion in its cumulative trade with other SCO countries in the next five years.To explore new paths of cooperation befitting the development needs of SCO members, China has set up demonstration bases for regional trade and economic cooperation, for agricultural technological training and exchange, and for technology transfer.China has also set up the China-SCO Big Data Cooperation Center.In the realm of cultural and people-topeople exchanges, China created the Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the SCO in 2013.In 2016, China launched the SCO Youth Exchange Camp, inviting 200 young people from other SCO member countries annually to visit China for five consecutive years.Since 2012, China has offered government scholarships to 30,000 students from other SCO member states and funded the study and research of over 10,000 Confucius Institute teachers and students in China.The Chinese government has also funded the training of nearly 10,000 personnel of different disciplines from other SCO member states in China thus far.China founded the China Center for SCO Environmental Cooperation in 2014 and launched the SCO Environmental Information Sharing Platform in 2018.Besides, China has successively launched the SCO Science and Technology Partnership Program, set up the China-SCO Medical Innovation and Cooperation Committee, launched the SCO Hospital Alliance, and established the International Tourism Alliance of Silk Road Cities.Moreover,China has launched and hosted the SCO media summit, the women’s forum, the forum on people-to-people friendship, the forum on traditional medicine, the industrial and supply chains forum, and the SCO forum on poverty reduction and sustainable development, and is preparing to set up a China-SCO ice and snow sports demonstration zone.All such activities have supported and promoted deepening cultural and people-to-people exchanges among SCO members.

The Chinese Strategies to Promote the SCO’s Development in the New Era

President Xi Jinping proposed building the SCO community with a shared future in the 2018 Qingdao summit, the first summit after the SCO enlargement.At the SCO Bishkek summit in 2019, President Xi stressed that the SCO should be made an example of solidarity and mutual trust, of common security, of mutually beneficial cooperation, and of inclusiveness and mutual learning, so as to jointly build a closer SCO community with a shared future.This outlined the tasks and objectives for building the SCO community with a shared future.At the 20th SCO summit held online in 2020, President Xi Jinping called upon building “four communities,”including the community of health, of security, of development, and of cultural exchanges for all.He further proposed at the 21st SCO Dushanbe summit that the SCO should follow the journey of enhancing solidarity and cooperation, of upholding common security, of promoting openness and integration, of boosting interactions and mutual learning, and of upholding equity and justice.The Chinese proposals have systematically crystalized building the SCO community with a shared future and formed a comprehensive and complete ideological chain with inherent connections.

Under the drastically changing international and regional environment,China’s proposal of building the SCO community with a shared future meets the challenges facing the SCO and China’s own diplomatic development.For China, building a community with a shared future for mankind is the banner of its major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era.The idea summarizes China’s new diplomatic thoughts, new wisdom and new approaches, representing the development direction and future goals of Chinese diplomacy.As one of China’s diplomatic priorities since its inception, the SCO is an essential platform for implementing China’s new diplomatic thoughts and proposals.Building the SCO community with a shared future is the outcome of bringing the concept of community with a shared future into the SCO and the combination and fusion of the two.

Building the SCO community with a shared future is a systematic project which involves such key elements as the “five new concepts,” the Belt and Road Initiative, the “four examples,” the “four communities,” and the“five journeys.”

The “five new concepts”

As a comprehensive and systemic theoretical framework with inherent connections, the “five new concepts” cover diverse areas of politics, security,economy, cultural exchanges and international cooperation.

The new concept of development is the development philosophy for building the SCO community with a shared future.It aims to offer new impetus for SCO member states so that they can pursue green and lowcarbon development, and overcome obstacles and difficulties in their pursuit of development through openness and inclusiveness, thus promoting the building of a new SCO featuring common prosperity and sustainable development.

The new concept of security refers to the basic principles which should be upheld to build the SCO security community.It aims to raise the consciousness of SCO member states to tackle security challenges by cooperation while motivating and encouraging them to engage in regional security governance on an equal basis and address security challenges more effectively through dialogue and consultation, thus promoting the building of a new SCO featuring common security and lasting peace.

The new concept of cooperation is the basis for building the SCO community of shared interests.It aims to promote the common development of all SCO member states, pursue convergence of their interests and seek out the broadest common ground for cooperation based on mutual respect.The concept aims to turn the idea of win-win cooperation into real and conscious actions of SCO member states and promote the building of a new SCO which highlights working together in harmony for win-win outcomes.

The new concept of culture refers to the fundamental principles for building the SCO community of cultural exchanges.It attempts to transcend differences between SCO member states in terms of ideology, political systems and culture, fully respect each other’s choice of development path,and promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning in the pursuit of a regional identity to facilitate the building of a new SCO featuring openness,inclusiveness and mutual learning.

The new concept of global governance is the basic principle for building the SCO community of responsibility.It urges all SCO member states to face difficulties and challenges together and take on responsibilities and obligations together while sharing the rights and successes of governance to build a new SCO featuring democratic consultation, equity and justice.

The Belt and Road Initiative

As a major proposal of China to boost international cooperation,the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) focuses on the issue of development,which is the common concern of SCO member states.The BRI centers on economic cooperation sans geopolitical objectives and does not exclusively target friends and allies.It follows the principles of non-alignment, nonconfrontation and non-targeting any third party and respects the diversity and differences of all states.It does not resort to coercion and accommodates all parties’ comfort zones, demonstrating the highest level of flexibility and inclusiveness.The BRI matches the SCO’s founding concepts; it caters to the concerns of SCO member states and is readily accepted by them.It reduces the pressure they face in “taking sides,” thus offering a new path of regional cooperation for developing the SCO community with a shared future.The BRI advocates the synergy of all states’ development strategies and promotes connectivity and infrastructure building.It also conforms to the needs of all states on the ground and helps break the bottleneck in building the SCO community with a shared future by forging a shared momentum among SCO members.

The “four examples”

Raised by President Xi Jinping at the SCO Bishkek summit in 2019,the “four examples” are the objectives and tasks for building the SCO community with a shared future.According to the “four examples,” building the SCO community with a shared future consists of four major goals and tasks.Regarding political cooperation, the SCO should be an example of solidarity and mutual trust.Regarding security cooperation, the SCO should be an example of common security.For economic cooperation,the SCO should be an example of mutually beneficial cooperation.In the realm of cultural and people-to-people exchanges, the SCO should be an example of inclusiveness and mutual learning.In short, the SCO community with a shared future should incorporate political, security, economic, and cultural dimensions, with the ultimate goal of turning the SCO into a highquality general intergovernmental organization that features the “SCO consciousness,” follows the “SCO model” and works as the benchmark for global and regional governance.

The “four communities”

At the SCO 2020 summit held via video link, President Xi Jinping stressed that the SCO should carry forward the Shanghai Spirit, step up anti-epidemic cooperation, safeguard security and stability, deepen practical cooperation, and nourish people-to-people amity.He also urged all SCO member states to work together to build a community of health, of security,of development and of cultural exchanges for all and take more steps toward building a community with a shared future for mankind.The “four communities” have further systemized the concept of the SCO community with a shared future, making it a complete and comprehensive ideological chain with inherent connections.

The “five journeys”

At the 21st SCO summit and the 20th anniversary of the SCO,President Xi Jinping proposed the SCO should follow the journey of enhancing solidarity and cooperation, of upholding common security, of promoting openness and integration, of boosting interactions and mutual learning, and of upholding equity and justice.As President Xi’s latest refinement and enrichment of the theory of building the SCO community with a shared future at the 20th anniversary of the SCO, the “five journeys”reflected the demands of the new era and made the theory of building the SCO community with a shared future more comprehensive and more universally acceptable.

Favorable Conditions for Promoting the SCO Community with a Shared Future

China’s goal for the SCO’s future development is to build the organization into a community with a shared future, and some favorable conditions have existed for its construction.

First, the twenty years of successful practice has laid a solid foundation for building the SCO community with a shared future.Led by the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO has gained remarkable experience in institutional building and external cooperation, established relatively effective mechanisms and institutions, and forged six major cooperation areas covering politics,security, economy, cultural and people-to-people ties, international exchanges, and institutional building.

Second, developing a common identity among SCO members has provided a strong impetus for building the SCO community with a shared future.All SCO summits since 2018 have emphasized the significance of upholding the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and the vision has been widely accepted and embraced by all SCO member states.Amid the COVID-19 pandemic,SCO member states realized they could only overcome the crisis through mutual help and joint efforts.It has been proven that building the SCO community with a shared future is not an empty slogan but a major initiative conforming to the current situation and matching all member countries’ needs.During and after the pandemic, faced with the twin tests of fighting against the coronavirus and restoring the national economy,all SCO members have realized the necessity and urgency of enhancing solidarity and cooperation.The destruction brought by the pandemic exerted great pressure upon the SCO members.Due to the insufficiency in emergency cooperation mechanisms, the anti-epidemic cooperation among SCO members lagged behind their actual demands and still had room for improvement.The shortcoming calls for the organization to reform its current decision-making mechanisms and strengthen the systematic legal structure to improve emergency response capacity and efficiency and compensate for the deficiency in responsiveness shown in the pandemic.

The SCO region is facing unprecedented international turbulence and challenges right now.Besides the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many complex issues, such as the drastic change in Afghanistan, the Ukraine crisis,the domestic turmoil in some Central Asian countries, and the frequent outbreak of border disputes between some states.All these have posed serious challenges against regional stability and sharply increased relevant countries’economic and social risks, aggravating their sense of crisis.Meanwhile, as geopolitical confrontation flares up, the US-Russia relationship is heading toward a complete rupture and entering a new stage of open confrontation.Disagreement, conflict and confrontation have become the main theme of Russia-US and Russia-Europe relations.As a major power in the SCO,Russia’s relations with the US and other Western countries have hit a new low, and there is a high risk of sliding toward a new confrontation between Eastern and Western blocs.The situation reflects the urgency of enhancing solidarity and coordination among SCO member states to jointly address challenges.Also, the further fragmentation of the existing international order under the impact of the Ukraine crisis has highlighted the advantages and appeal of the concept of building the SCO community with a shared future and offered new opportunities for China to push for its construction.The Ukraine crisis is in essence an aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and reflects the persistent Cold War mentality and the deficiency of the existing international order dominated by the US and other Western countries, which is incapable of conducting peaceful and just global governance.Under such circumstances, by emphasizing mutual respect, equity, justice and win-win cooperation in the pursuit of an open,inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, common security, and common prosperity, the SCO community with a shared future has offered new approaches and new hope of transcending the Cold War mentality and demonstrated a new way of governance for developing countries all over the world not from the West.In this context, the SCO’s initiation and enforcement of the “five new concepts” are even more valuable and insightful.It can play an exemplary and leading role in global security governance and help address the fragmentation problem in global governance.

Third, expanding shared interests and narrowing differences among SCO member states provide strong momentum for building the SCO community with a shared future.The SCO’s over twenty years of development is a de-facto initial process of constructing a community with a shared future, during which all member states have forged consensus,expanded common interests and enhanced the sense of common identity through cooperation and interactions.China and Russia signed the Joint Statement on Cooperation on the Construction of Joint Silk Road Economic Belt and Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Projects in May 2015, marking an important consensus between the two parties on regional institutional building and order reconstruction.In June 2017, China and Russia completed the feasibility study on a Eurasian Economic Partnership agreement between the two countries.The signing of the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between China and the EAEU in May 2018 symbolized a new stage of institutional integration between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Russia’s Greater Eurasian Partnership and a new era of China-Russia cooperation in the Eurasian region.The establishment of the “China + Central Asia” (C+C5) cooperation mechanism in July 2020 and the first China-Central Asia summit in 2023 signaled that China and Central Asian countries had embarked on the track of institutionalized cooperation and entered a new phase of integrated development.The strengthening of strategic cooperation and institutional integration between China and Russia, as well as the remarkable improvement in the overall China-Central Asia relations, have offered a strong impetus to building the SCO community with a shared future.In the meantime, with the increasing cooperation among Central Asian states in recent years, chronic and difficult issues concerning territorial borders and water resources that long affected inter-state relations have seen signs of resolution, bringing new incentives to regional cooperation.Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan reached an agreement on certain sections of their borders in 2022, thus completely resolving the border dispute between the two countries.On January 6, 2023, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on the joint construction of the Kambarata-1 hydropower plant on the Naryn River.The move is an important step in their cooperation on water resources utilization.Since 2018, leaders of the five Central Asian countries have met four times; they pledge to build Central Asia into a harmonious region featuring safety and stability,economic prosperity, sustainable development, solidarity and friendship and stay committed to promoting regional integration in Central Asia.At the 4th Central Asian Heads of States Consultative Meeting in 2022,the five Central Asian states signed multiple documents for advancing cooperation, including the Concept of Interaction of Central Asian States in Multilateral Formats, the Central Asia Regional Green Agenda Program, and the Roadmap for the Development of Regional Cooperation(2022-2024).It is clear that strengthening solidarity and cooperation among Central Asian states is conducive to China’s building of the SCO community with a shared future.

Fourth, China enjoys many special advantages in pushing for the building of the SCO community with a shared future.China is currently a major trade and economic partner of other SCO member states and the main source of investment for many of them.China’s gross domestic product(GDP) is more than twice the sum of other SCO member states.China has embarked on a new journey toward its second centenary goal and strives to become a great modern socialist country by the middle of the century.The economic advancement has laid a strong material foundation and boosted confidence in China’s promotion of the SCO community with a shared future.The relations between China and other SCO member states have hit an unprecedented high after years of unrelenting efforts.The China-Russia relationship has been upgraded into a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era; China and Kazakhstan have upgraded their ties into a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership; China’s relations with Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan have all been lifted to comprehensive strategic partnerships; China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic partners.The continuous improvement of China’s relations with other SCO members has provided strong momentum for the SCO to build itself into a community with a shared future.

Challenges and Difficulties in Promoting the SCO Community with a Shared Future

Building the SCO community with a shared future is a long-term and arduous task which cannot be achieved overnight.China will inevitably encounter various difficulties and challenges in promoting the construction of the SCO community with a shared future.

Organizational efficiency must improve

“Consensus through consultation” and “non-interference in others’internal affairs” are the basic decision-making principles adopted by the SCO,ensuring all member states enjoy equal rights and their sovereign interests are protected.However, with the rising heterogeneity resulting from the expansion of membership, such principles are increasingly restraining the SCO’s decisionmaking efficiency, making it difficult for the organization to respond effectively to major emergencies in member states and the broader region or to take prompt actions when contingencies happened.As a result, the SCO has to face the practical problem of holding too many meetings and producing numerous documents without implementation or execution.Compared with other international organizations with mature and developed institutional settings,the SCO lacks supervisory or dispute-settling mechanisms.The SCO Charter only stipulates the peaceful resolution of differences and conflicts without outlining specific rules or procedures, thus leaving no laws or regulations for the organization to follow in the face of disputes or conflicts and making it difficult to take efficient action.The SCO also lacks necessary warning and disciplinary mechanisms, leaving rules-breaking actions of member states unpunished and the organization’s legitimacy questioned.SCO member states are all developing countries that cherish their independence and sovereignty.They are often unwilling and unprepared to transfer some of their rights to the SCO or agree to have their actions limited by the organization.On the contrary, as their requests and expectations keep rising, the SCO has to bear excessive responsibilities, which is not conducive to forming a sense of community.The severe imbalance between organizational fairness and efficiency and between members’ rights and obligations has posed serious challenges to the forging of the SCO community with a shared future.

Internal imbalances within the SCO must be addressed

With over 20 years of history, the SCO has forged three pillars: political and security cooperation, economic cooperation, and cultural and peopleto-people exchanges.Among the three pillars, SCO member states have achieved significant progress in political and security cooperation but lagged in promoting multilateral economic cooperation, leaving many planned multilateral economic cooperation projects un-launched.The governments mostly play the leading role in cultural and people-to-people exchanges while civil society engagement is insufficient.Besides, the power gap between SCO member states keeps widening, and the imbalance is intensifying.China’s economic development stands out, while Russia and other Central Asian states face difficulties in their economic development and have not yet embarked on the road of revitalization.Russia’s current economic size is 10%that of China, and its per capita GDP fell behind China for the first time in 2020.Among the SCO’s Central Asian members, Kazakhstan’s economy far outperforms the other three.The increasing imbalance in economic development among SCO member states is obviously not conducive to advancing regional cooperation.How to enhance cooperation while addressing internal imbalance to achieve common development thus becomes a serious challenge to building the SCO community with a shared future.

Collective identity among SCO members needs to be strengthened

The SCO has not yet truly formed a common identity that its member states would consciously cherish and safeguard.The organization’s collective identity is still under construction and development.First, with the continuous enlargement of the SCO, differences among its member states have become more prominent.The rising diversity of SCO member states poses even greater challenges to the formation of a collective identity.Russia and the SCO members in Central Asia belong to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).Russia and some Central Asian countries are also members of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).At the same time, India and Pakistan are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).The SCO’s existing values are often unable to translate into substantial cooperation outcomes, with some disconnection and incongruence between them.The concepts and values of the SCO are embraced mostly by political elites but not transmitted effectively to its member states’ general public, making it difficult for people in various states to buy in or identify with them.

Second, the SCO has always had an ambiguous regional identification throughout its development.With the expansion of membership, the problem is getting even more complicated.At present, members and quasimembers of the organization include not only Central Asian states but also countries from South Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe.The SCO not only has major Asian powers like China and India as its members, but also Russia that spans the Eurasian continent.The rising ambiguity in regional identification is not conducive to forming a collective identity.

Third, on fundamental issues such as the SCO’s development direction and goals, the member states have not reached unanimity, which also affects the formation of a collective identity.Compared to its initial years of development, the SCO is faced with a more complicated international situation and more arduous tasks, and the new environment requires the organization to take on more responsibilities and more missions.The SCO’s power has been strengthened with the expansion of membership.Under such circumstances, forging a collective identity while forming common goals has become urgent for building the SCO community with a shared future.

China faces multiple pressures and challenges

The speedy rise of China has made it the major factor which could affect and cause structural changes in the SCO region, and triggered complex and subtle changes in the policies and attitudes of non-regional powers and other member states toward China, posing direct challenges to building the SCO community with a shared future.First, the United States has intensified its containment of China in the SCO region.Its new Central Asia strategy is clearly aimed at containing and restraining China.It has proposed alternative plans in an attempt to replace and sabotage the BRI.It is also stirring up Xinjiang-related issues with the intention of sowing discord between China and Central Asian states.

Second, there is increasing uncertainty in Russia’s attitude toward and stance on China.Russia’s proposal of the Greater Eurasian Partnership is partly but apparently aimed at hedging against the BRI.In Central Asia, the relationship between Russia and China is in essence one between established and emerging powers.As China-Russia relations are undergoing historic changes, Russia is not fully ready to deal with and get along with a rising China.

Third, impediments from other third parties have been on the rise.India has accelerated its promotion of the International North-South Transport Corridor and is actively constructing the Chabahar port in Iran.Also, India is persistently advancing its Connect Central Asia policy while holding the India-Central Asia Dialogue between foreign ministers and the India-Central Asia Summit.Through Turkey’s efforts, the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States has been transformed into the Organization of Turkic States, which has adopted the Turkic World Vision 2040, seeking to work out an integrated foreign policy and priority areas for cooperation.The European Union has upgraded its Central Asia strategy,and launched the EU-Asia Connectivity Strategy and later the Global Gateway, both of which emphasize the importance of rules and values.All these factors have the implication, albeit to different degrees, of competing against China.

Fourth, there have been subtle changes in the policies of the SCO’s Central Asian members toward China.Under the influence of multiple external forces and out of the need to cling onto political power and respond to domestic pressures, nationalism targeting China has been rising in some Central Asian states, with anti-Chinese opinions occasionally appearing in newspapers.These factors may impede China’s promotion of building the SCO community with a shared future.

Conclusion

Looking back at China’s participation in the SCO, it can be seen that in the SCO’s over 20 years of development, China has formed a relationship of win-win cooperation with the organization.While China has contributed actively to building the SCO, the organization has also played an important role in promoting China’s security, stability and development.Looking forward, the next ten years will be a critical period for the SCO’s development.On balance, positive factors helpful for China’s promotion of the SCO community with a shared future are significantly greater than negative factors.

The SCO is now at a new starting point in its third decade.Building the SCO community with a shared future is a strong call of the times.It meets the need for improving regional governance and the inherent requirement for the organization’s development.It is imperative for China,together with other member states, to grasp the rare opportunity and actively promote the improvement of the organization by tapping fully its inherent growth momentum, establishing the real “SCO consciousness,”and enhancing its operational capacity and efficiency.Meanwhile, all SCO members should adhere to the concept of openness and inclusiveness, hold the banner of multilateralism, step up participation in regional and global governance, firmly uphold international fairness and justice, and establish the SCO’s reputation as a responsible international organization.Improving domestic governance and diplomatic relations, forging a mutually supportive relationship with the SCO and building the SCO into a better and stronger organization should be China’s strategic choice for promoting the SCO’s future development.