The 18th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
will be held from June 9th to 10th, 2018, in Qingdao，Shandong Province.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the conference and hold related activities.
At that time, President Xi Jinping will work together with leaders of 7 other member states,
and four observer countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and heads of United Nations
and other international organizations and agencies to discuss further cooperation.
Upholding the "Shanghai Spirit" which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation,
respect for diverse civilizations
and pursuit of common development,
Shanghai Cooperation Organization has gone through 17 years of extraordinary development.
In the past 17 years,
"Shanghai Spirit" has served as both the core concept of Shanghai Cooperation Organization
and the spiritual wealth for international relations.
President Xi Jinping has regarded the Shanghai spirit
as the foundation of the survival and development of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO),
considering that the Shanghai spirit represents the development direction of international relations in the world of today.
In addition, President Xi has summarized the characteristics of the SCO in a concise statement:
equality and mutual trust is the basis of SCO;
mutual benefit and win-win cooperation is the principle;
dialogue and consultation is the approach;
common development is the goal.
With the signing of the Treaty on Deepening Military Trust in Border Regions in Shanghai
by the heads of states of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in 1996,
the meeting mechanism for "Shanghai Five" has been established.
In 2001, heads of the five states and Uzbekistan gathered in Shanghai
and announced the founding of Shanghai Cooperation Organization
to expand the scope of cooperation from military to
politics, economy, trade, and culture.
"Shanghai Spirit" was put forward in Declaration of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
In the past 17 years,
the member states have continuously broadened their pragmatic cooperation in various fields
and opened up a path for peaceful development
and win-win cooperation under the guidance of "Shanghai Spirit".
In 2001, the trade volume between China and other members of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was merely $12.1 billion.
From 2013 to 2017,
the total imports of China from members of Shanghai Cooperation Organization have surpassed $340 billion
and the direct investment of Chinese enterprises in these countries reached $15 billion.
From the banks of the Huangpu River to the shores of the Yellow Sea
and from 6 member states to 8 member states,
Shanghai Cooperation Organization is embracing the first summit after the expansion.
A larger Shanghai Cooperation Organization with higher voice will soon start a new voyage.
Just as Chinese President Xi Jinping
expressed in the congratulatory letter to Shanghai Cooperation Organization media summit that
"China stands firm in supporting the development of the SCO,
and is willing to make steps forward hand-in-hand with all parties
to develop a closer regional community with a shared future,
and to push forward the building of a community with a shared future for mankind".
