The seventh summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is due to open in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek Thursday. The following is a brief introduction of the SCO.
The SCO is an intergovernmental organization founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Its member states cover an area of more than 30 million square km with a population of 1.46 billion. Its working languages are Chinese and Russian.
The SCO originated and grew from the Shanghai Five mechanism, which was founded in 1996 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with the aim of strengthening confidence-building, carrying out disarmament in their border areas and promoting regional cooperation.
In 2000, the president of Uzbekistan was invited to the Dushanbe Summit of the Shanghai Five as a guest, and in the following year, the SCO was established in Shanghai at its first summit meeting and accepted Uzbekistan as a member state.
In July, 2005, the fifth summit was held in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. The summit formally accepted Pakistan, India and Iran as observers.
The SCO institutions consist of two parts: the meeting mechanism and the permanent organs. The highest SCO organ is the Council of Heads of State. The permanent institutions include the Secretariat in Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) in Tashkent.
According to the SCO Charter and the Declaration on the Establishment of the SCO, its main purpose are: strengthening mutual trust and good-neighborliness and friendship among member states; developing effective cooperation in political affairs, economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation, environmental protection and other fields; working together to maintain regional peace, security and stability; and promoting the creation of a new international political and economic order featuring democracy, justice and rationality.
Source: Xinhua
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