by WANG Li
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit 2025, also titled “The Tianjin Summit 2025” was held from August 31 to September 1. It is widely seen as a major milestone, not only for the SCO itself but also for the broader global landscape. China’s presidency also stands as a testament to its commitment to fostering a multipolar world order. First of all, the SCO has represented 42% of the world population and 24% of global GDP (more than $20 trillion in 2024). Moreover, the member states cover China, Russia, and four countries of Central Asia along with India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus. Particularly China and Russia are the leading powers of the “heartland of Eurasia”, which was considered by Halford Mackinder as the key to the rule over the world.
Yet, some critics like Syed Raza and Saleem Abbas argued that “The Tianjin Summit is of high significance as many members of the group have been embroiled in wars and conflicts, undermining the very fabric of SCO multilateralism. From Russia, which remains entrenched in the on-going war with Ukraine, to Iran’s 12-day war with Israel and to the Pakistan-India cross-border clash of 2025, four of the ten SCO member states have been directly involved in military clashes in the past three months alone. These factors obviously contribute to weakening the bilateral relations of the states involved while serving as a litmus test for the SCO as multilateral forum. Given this, it is necessary for the SCO to prove whether it can function as a credible platform for cooperation, or if it will succumb to the internal disputes among its member states—an issue in the SCO’s proceedings for a quite long time.
Despite this narrative, it is fair to say that the Tianjin Summit has marked a transformative phase for the 10-member bloc. Under the theme “Upholding the Shanghai Spirit: SCO on the Move,” China has made all efforts to bolster cooperation in security, trade, energy, digital innovation, and cultural exchange. First, as one of the key original principles, security cooperation has been prioritized since the SCO aims to address rising regional threats. According to the SCO Secretariat, the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) neutralized 450 terrorist plots in 2024 only, a 12% increase from 2023. Second, given that all the member states of the SCO are within the Global South economically, it is worth noting that economic collaboration among the SCO family has been one of the cornerstones. Over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has driven over $890 billion in SCO trade in 2024, up 9% from 2023. Equally, the China-Europe Railway Express, connecting 25 SCO cities, completed 19,000 trips in 2024, a 10.7% increase.
To ramp up this end, the 12th SCO Transport Ministers’ Meeting in Tianjin in June 2025 secured $2 billion for green logistics corridors, reducing emissions by 10% and transit times by 15%. Prior to the Tianjin Summit, China also held the SCO Conference on Industrial Cooperation for Sustainable Development in April and yielded closely $668 million in green technology deals across 18 projects. It is China’s push for a SCO development bank that has earnestly boosted local currency trade. As Asif Noor observed, these efforts underscore China’s vision for sustainable development, economic integration and poverty reduction with $3 billion committed to two gigawatts of renewable energy projects in Central Asia by 2030.
It is seminal that at the “SCO plus” Meeting, Chinese President put forward the Global Governance Initiative (GGI), a comprehensive vision that seeks to build a more just and equitable global governance system. It is the fourth global initiative proposed by Xi over the past years, following the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative that have been seen as the guiding line of China’s diplomacy since it has upheld strong responsibility to endorse global governance in line with the tenet of global centric rather than Eurocentric.
China has appealed to the SCO member states to champion a more just and equitable global governance system and move toward a community with a shared future for humanity. Since 1945, the UN system has been the main forum for international dialogue and cooperation in areas that concern all of humanity, such as peace and security, human rights, sustainable development, disarmament, and many others. Yet the great transformation of our times reveals the urgency of reforms in need for the current global governance mechanisms. Obviously, with an average annual growth rate of more than 3%, emerging markets or economies in the Global South have taken up more than 60 percent of the world economy. It means that the Global South en bloc has emerged as the new force in global governance while securing the very rights to sovereignty, peace and development. The SCO member states not only belong to the Global South but mostly are the major emerging economies, particularly China, India and Russia.
Yet, when Israel and Iran came to blow in June this year, the “Big Three” of the SCO—Russia, China and India—virtually provided no tangible assistance to Teheran to defend national security. Accordingly, the media in the West said that China was not ready to play the role of the world’s next superpower. This rhetoric ignored the fact that Beijing has actively sought stronger relations with many countries in the Middle East—not just Iran but also Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Looking back into the recent years, China has helped Iran to circumvent Washington-led sanctions and diplomatic pressure. Alongside Russia and India, China has steadily welcomed Iran into two important forums: the BRICS group of emerging economies and the SCO, the largest regional association of countries covering the central domain of Eurasia. Furthermore, China purchases nearly all of Iran’s oil exports, providing vital resources to its moribund economy.
It thus concludes that the SCO is not a conventional military alliance from its inception in 2002, rather it has upheld non-alignment, no-confrontation, non-targeting at other countries or regions while keeping the principle of openness. Particularly with this expansion over the past two decades, the SCO encompasses nearly 60% of the area of Eurasia, with more than 3.4 billion people living in the member states. Moreover, its member states take over nearly half of the world’s population while the combined GDF of the SCO exceeds S23 trillion. This economic and political weight has made the SCO more influential in the region and beyond as they have appealed to be either “observatory states” or “dialogue partners”. It is true that the SCO is no longer merely a symbolic step, rather a strategic direction in line with a multipolar world order based on the UN Charter and the rules of international law.
Author: Wang Li is professor of international relations at Jilin International Studies University, China. He studied for his BA in international history, MA in international affairs & diplomacy and PhD in international relations & law respectively in China, the U.S. and UK with a focus on the great powers’ foreign policy.
This article reflects the author’s own opinions and not necessarily the views of Global Connectivities.
