Xi prioritizes good-neighborliness on SCO stage

BEIJING - On July 15, President Xi Jinping received top diplomats and heads of standing bodies of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the bright, stately Fujian Hall of the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing.

"China has always prioritized the SCO in its neighborhood diplomacy, and is committed to making the organization more substantive and stronger," Xi stressed at the meeting. The pledge echoes China's years-long unremitting efforts to foster a friendly neighborhood of peace and development on the SCO stage.

China's neighborhood policy, as Xi elaborated during his recent trip in June to Astana, Kazakhstan, features a firm belief in an amicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood as well as a strong dedication to amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness.

In the coming days, Xi will host this year's SCO summit in the northern port city of Tianjin, where he and fellow organization leaders will chart strategies for promoting greater regional security and prosperity, and take solid steps toward building a closer SCO community with a shared future.

Xi has made three overseas trips so far this year. Two of the destinations, Russia and Kazakhstan, are both SCO member states.

Upon his arrival at the airport in Astana during the June visit for the second China-Central Asia Summit, Xi was warmly greeted by an old friend, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. It was Xi's sixth visit to the neighboring country since he became Chinese president.

The China-Central Asia Summit is designed to cement China's bond with its landlocked neighbors along the ancient Silk Road.

"A Central Asian proverb compares harmony and unity to happiness and wealth," Xi said at the gathering. "We always wish our neighbors well."

China is one of the countries with the most neighbors in the world. For decades, fostering closer partnerships with its neighboring countries has been a ballast in the layout of Beijing's foreign policy. Xi has taken particular attention to cultivating a peaceful and friendly neighborhood.

Back in 2013 when he was first elected China's head of state, Xi put forward the principle of "amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness" at a meeting on China's neighborhood diplomacy, the first such conference held since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

At the central conference on work related to neighboring countries held in Beijing in April, Xi called for building a community with a shared future with neighboring countries.

Good-neighborliness has been a constant theme in Xi's agenda on the SCO stage. During his SCO debut at the Bishkek Summit in 2013, he proposed an earnest implementation of the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation among the SCO member states. Xi has described both the treaty and the SCO Charter as two documents that "lay down the principles and give guidance to SCO member states in their work."

In subsequent years, the Chinese leader proposed an action plan for 2018-2022 to implement the established SCO good-neighborliness treaty, and pushed for its adoption at the landmark Qingdao Summit in 2018, which was the first time Xi hosted an SCO summit in China. A comprehensive plan for 2023-2027 on the implementation of the Treaty was adopted in 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The SCO, which does not engage in alliances or target others, embraces openness and inclusiveness. In Xi's own words, it is like a "big family." China over the years has been deepening ties with the SCO's founding members and new partners alike. Under the guidance of the Shanghai Spirit, which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development, the SCO has grown into a comprehensive regional organization with the most extensive geographical coverage and population in the world, encompassing 10 member states, two observer states and 14 dialogue partners.

Belarus officially became the SCO's 10th member at last year's Astana Summit. In June, Xi received Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing. Lukashenko told Xi during his visit that he has truly felt the profound friendship extended by the Chinese side.

This is just one example of Xi's regular exchanges with his fellow SCO leaders. Since 2023, he has met with leaders of SCO member states dozens of times -- whether on the sidelines of SCO summits, at other multilateral gatherings, or during their visits to China. These high-level interactions have not only strengthened coordination within the SCO but also helped build closer personal rapport among its leaders.

"Between relatives and friends alike, with closer interaction, the affinity grows," Xi once said.