— Remarks by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

(Beijing, June 7, 2012)

As the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) enters its second decade, we are gathered here at the 12th summit of the organization to jointly explore ways to promote peace and development. This summit provides us with an opportunity to build on past achievements and make new progress, and is thus of great significance to the future development of the organization.

In the past ten years, the member states have acted in the spirit of unity and coordination, and made remarkable progress in the development of the SCO. We have improved the institutional building of the organization, signed over 100 important documents for cooperation, and admitted new observers and dialogue partners. These achievements have laid a solid foundation for the development of the SCO and increased its influence in the international community.

In spite of the volatile international situation, we have managed to preserve peace and development in this region against the challenges of the Afghan war, the Iraqi war, the international financial crisis and the turbulence in West Asia and North Africa. Following the trend towards peace and development and heeding the calls of member states, we have jointly implemented the "Shanghai Spirit," completed the Treaty of Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, embraced the peaceful vision of building long-standing friendship, explored new models of regional cooperation, and achieved important results in our cooperation. In particular, by taking joint actions against terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime, we have safeguarded the security and development interests of member states, and upheld peace, security and stability in the region. The SCO, which has become a banner for peace and development, enjoys broad support from people across its member states, greater global influence and notably higher international standing.

The present regional and international situation is complex and volatile. The underlying impact of the international financial crisis still persists. Regional hotspot issues keep flaring up, and the situation in West Asia and North Africa remains turbulent. As a result, there are still many instabilities and uncertainties in the regional situation, and the development of the SCO faces new challenges and new opportunities. The SCO member states are all confronted with the arduous task of development, and we all need a stable internal environment and a peaceful and tranquil external environment. We must strengthen cooperation and unity, keep pushing forward the development of the SCO, and seize and make good use of the favorable opportunities. This is the only way for us to tackle the challenges and problems we face, safeguard regional peace and stability, and achieve common development and prosperity in this region.

The SCO is now standing at a new starting point. We must be practical in our efforts, set out the goals for the development of the SCO in the next ten years and ensure their delivery, chart a clear course for the development of the organization, and devise specific steps and measures to help the SCO grow faster and better so that it can bring tangible benefits to the member states and make new contributions to peace and development of the region and the world at large.

We must build the SCO into a harmonious and amicable home. The member states should strengthen communication and consultation, enhance mutual understanding and trust, fully implement the Treaty of Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and address existing problems in the spirit of mutual respect, consultation on an equal footing, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation. And we should work together to build a harmonious region and a harmonious and amicable home for the people in it. To this end, the Chinese side wishes to propose that an SCO committee on good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation should be established to promote the people-to-people exchanges between the member states and firm up the popular support and social basis for the development of the SCO.

We need to make the SCO a source of strong support for regional security and stability. Member states should fully implement the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism, establish and improve the security cooperation mechanism, take coordinated actions, suppress the activity space of terrorist, separatist and extremist forces and eliminate drug trafficking, organized transnational crime and other vicious forces. We should take the revision of the regulations on emergency response mechanism as an opportunity to comprehensively enhance the SCO's capacity for action and rapid response. The internal affairs of each country in this region should be decided independently by its people. We are firmly against interference in the internal affairs of the member states under any pretext and we firmly support efforts of individual countries to uphold sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, security and stability.

We need to make the SCO a driver of regional economic development. The SCO member states span across Eurasia with vast landmass, rich resources and huge development potential. We should bear in mind the features of the regional economy and the actual development needs of each country, make full use of the effective platform provided by the SCO, bring out our respective strengths, stay committed to practical cooperation and endeavor to achieve common development and prosperity. Member states need to work hard to complete projects aimed at improving regional connectivity, such as railways, roads, air links, telecommunication, power grids and energy pipelines, so as to breathe new life into the ancient Silk Road. We should establish a development bank, a food security cooperation mechanism, a seed bank, agricultural demonstration and dissemination bases and an energy club to promote trade and investment facilitation and the economic development of all countries in an all-round way. We need to intensify cooperation in science, technology, culture, education and health, develop high-tech products and industries and comprehensively enhance the competitiveness of our individual countries in the global economy.

In the next three years, China will train 1,500 experts for other member states. In the next ten years, China will offer 30,000 government scholarships for other member states and invite 10,000 teachers and students of Confucius Institutes to come to China for study programs. To promote the development of the member states and support economic cooperation programs under the framework of the SCO, China has decided to provide other member states with new loans worth 10 billion U.S. dollars.

We need to make the SCO an effective platform for international exchanges with greater international influence. The member states share common interests and extensive consensus on many major regional and international issues. We should use this platform to enhance consultation with other regional and international organizations to uphold peace, boost development, and promote a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations. On major regional and international issues, the member states need to strengthen communication, coordinate positions, speak with a consistent voice based on the merits of the issues and our common interests and make new and greater contribution to world peace and stability and common development.

Over the past year, other SCO member states have given China enormous support and help and worked tirelessly for the success and positive outcomes of this meeting. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to you for your support. China will actively support the work of the incoming president, Kyrgyzstan, in a spirit of practical and friendly cooperation. We hope to join hands with all other member states to act in an enterprising and pioneering spirit, fully implement the agreement reached at this meeting, steadily advance the cooperation of the SCO across the board and create a bright future for the development of the SCO.