File Photo: Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd R) meets with leaders of members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), in Wuzhen town, east China's Zhejiang Province, Dec. 16, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
The Shanghai Spirit -- the core value of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) -- has played a significant role in safeguarding regional security and promoting regional development. [Special coverage]
The SCO's undergirding values, which features mutual trust, mutual respect, equality, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of shared development, was born together with the Shanghai Five mechanism, the precursor of the SCO.
In 2001, the SCO came into being after Uzbekistan formally joined the Shanghai Five, which were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan at that time. The Shanghai Spirit then became the guideline for the SCO cooperation.
During the course of its development, the SCO has seen fruitful results in various fields, deepening good-neighborliness and friendship, and win-win cooperation among peoples in the region.
Thanks to the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO has become a paradigm of global and regional cooperation, and serves as a model of efficient cooperation by paying equal attention simultaneously to economic development and security cooperation.
The 2016 Summit of the SCO, scheduled for June 23-24 in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent, marks the 15th anniversary of the organization's establishment and will likely see India and Pakistan take a key step torward joining the group.
