As the first international organization named after a Chinese city, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) can benefit China in many ways, helping Beijing participate in Central Asian affairs, enhance trust with Moscow and New Delhi, promote its Belt and Road Initiative, and maintain security in northwest China, according to a report by three top Chinese think tanks.
The report, which evaluates the progress of the regional bloc since its foundation in 2001, was compiled by the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, the Institute for Central Asian Studies at China's Lanzhou University and the Global Governance Research Center at Renmin University of China. It was released ahead of the 18th SCO Summit in east China's Qingdao this weekend.
I. The SCO shows how China's visions for international relations work.
The SCO, grown from the "Shanghai Five" mechanism, has been playing important roles in China's relationship with its neighboring countries, including Russia and some of former Soviet Union republics in Central Asia.
In the 1990s, China and these newly independent countries engaged in a series of talks over border disputes and reached agreements, laying the foundation for the creation of the "Shanghai Five" mechanism and the SCO and further regional cooperation. The report describes the SCO as the first international organization originated from talks to resolve border issues.
