Chinese and Russian experts discussed the role of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in regional governance amid the COVID-19 pandemic and looked to its future mission at a recent webinar co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the Russian International Affairs Committee (RIAC).

Guided by the Shanghai Spirit over nearly two decades since its founding, the SCO has actively constructed and improved a new model of regional cooperation, and its international influence has been increasing, said CASS President Xie Fuzhan. The organization has become an important force to be reckoned with in promoting world peace and development and maintaining international fairness and justice.

The “Shanghai Spirit,” the set of values that underpins the SCO, features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

The fundamental reason why the SCO has maintained vigorous vitality and strong cooperation momentum is that it has always practiced the Shanghai Spirit, Xie noted. It advocates the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and the concept of innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, and develops a vision for civilization based on equality, mutual learning, dialogue and inclusiveness, while shedding new light on regional governance. The SCO also focuses on meeting the common security needs of member states, actively promotes regional trade facilitation, and encourages cultural exchanges between member states, injecting new impetus into regional governance.

Xie pointed out that the SCO should be promoted to make greater contributions to regional peace and development. It is important to further enhance the cohesion and joint action capabilities of the SCO after its membership expansion. It is necessary to effectively coordinate standpoints among the member states taking into account their interests; continuously promoting institutional construction and improving decision-making efficiency; and promoting new and existing member states to deepen cooperation in the fields of security, economy and humanities.

It is also important to tap the potential for cooperation and promote regional economic recovery and prosperity in the post-pandemic era, Xie continued. At present, it is necessary to vigorously promote the 2021–25 action plan of the SCO Development Strategy Towards 2025, strengthen the coordination of macro policies and the alignment of development strategies among the member states, deeply tap the potential of economic and trade cooperation, and strive to reduce the negative fallouts of the pandemic.

In the future, Xie said that it is necessary to speed up the construction of the “green channel,” and empower the SCO Business Council and SCO Interbank Consortium to further play their roles. He suggested effectively promoting bilateral and multilateral cooperation among member states, releasing the cooperation potential in various fields in the region, and facilitating regional economic recovery and long-term sustainable economic and social development.

Over the past nearly two decades, the SCO has become one of the largest and most influential international organizations in the world, with its members increasing, and their scope of cooperation expanding from security to economy and trade, science and technology, and humanities, said RIAC President Igor Ivanov. Today, when global governance is in deep crisis, the SCO has once again proven itself as an effective mechanism for multilateral international cooperation. Under the new circumstances, the SCO’s new five-year development plan will be released in November this year, which will chart a new path and direction for the SCO.

Zhang Hanhui, Chinese ambassador to Russia, said that the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has once again proved that solidarity and mutual benefit are the only way to solve the dilemma. Innovative development and open financing are the key to creating new cooperation growth points.

With the gradual resumption of work and production in the region, countries should further coordinate pandemic prevention and control with economic and social development and support border highway ports to speed up the restoration of cargo delivery capacity. Zhang suggested playing the “lifeline” role of China-Europe freight trains, and opening up as soon as possible a “fast track” for important business, production and technical personnel, along with a green channel for the transportation of important supplies and raw materials.

Zhang also suggested vigorously supporting and revitalizing the digital economy, working together to boost economic expectations of the organization and the region.

Although more than 100 planned events had to be postponed or switched to online channels due to the pandemic, this did not affect how the SCO member states can carry out meaningful and high-quality cooperation, said Andrey Denisov, Russian ambassador to China. China-Russia cooperation has always played a “locomotive” role in the SCO. After the test of the joint fight against the pandemic, China-Russia cooperation has gained new impetus, and the two countries will work with other member states to continue to promote in-depth and constructive cooperation of the SCO in various fields.

SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov said that the fight against the pandemic within the SCO framework has achieved remarkable results. The SCO will continue to provide assistance to all parties in the fight against the pandemic, and will continue to work to strengthen cooperation in the fields of security, economy, trade, and science and technology, and take multiple measures to create new cooperation growth points.