President calls on members to support regional links to Belt and Road Initiative
Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization should follow the trend of economic globalization and build the SCO into a community with a shared future, President Xi Jinping said on Friday.
Xi made the remark while delivering a speech at the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital.
SCO members should promote the multilateral trading system, build an open global economy and put forward more policies to facilitate trade and investment, he said.
Xi proposed making full use of cooperation platforms such as the China International Import Expo to promote the openness, exchanges and integration of regional economies.
Xi called on the countries to implement the outcomes of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, make full use of their special advantages and promote connections between the Belt and Road Initiative and other regional cooperation platforms such as the Eurasian Economic Union.
Xi proposed promoting the connection of railways, roads and natural gas pipelines among SCO members to build an interconnective system.
Xi said SCO members should make joint efforts to make the organization a model of unity and mutual trust.
The SCO has maintained good development momentum in recent years and become an important force promoting regional safety, stability, development and prosperity, he said, adding that mutual trust is the key to SCO development.
Xi said that faced with threats of terrorism and extremism, SCO members should take effective measures to ensure the region's safety and stability.
They should improve their laws to enhance security cooperation and improve the organization's capability to deal with complicated situations, he said.
Xi called for joint efforts to fight the three evil forces — terrorism, separatism and extremism — as well as beefing up security measures and halting the flow of terrorists and extremist forces.
Noting that Afghanistan is a neighbor of SCO countries and an important observer state in the organization, Xi said the SCO firmly supports an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process.
SCO countries should cultivate new cooperation areas in such fields as digital economy, ecommerce, artificial intelligence and big data, he said.
Xi also stressed the importance of inclusiveness and mutual learning among different civilizations.
SCO nations should cherish their colorful civilizations, reject conflicts among them and uphold openness, inclusiveness and mutual learning to inject an impetus for friendship and common development of the people of all countries, Xi said.
Xi also proposed deepening people-to-people exchanges and enhancing cooperation in areas including culture, education, tourism, sports and media.
Member states' leaders signed the Bishkek Declaration of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and issued a communique on the summit.
It was agreed that the next summit of the organization will be held in Russia.
After the SCO summit, Xi attended a meeting of heads of state of China, Russia and Mongolia.
Xi left Bishkek and arrived in Dushanbe on Friday afternoon for the state visit to Tajikistan and the fifth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
