SCO summit opens in Bishkek

The 13th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) opened here Friday, gathering Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterparts from other members of the Eurasian group.

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The meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council is aimed at further strengthening the good-neighborly relations and practical cooperation among the group's six members and coordinating their stances on key global and regional affairs.

Xi is scheduled to deliver a speech at the summit, his first since taking over the Chinese presidency in March, to expound China's policy.

The SCO leaders are expected to sign a joint declaration, ratify a series of documents, issue a press release and witness the signing of a technology cooperation agreement.

The SCO, an inter-governmental organization founded in Shanghai in 2001, groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

It also has Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey as dialogue partners.