Tianjin: China has urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strengthen their collective financial security and voice in the world as pressure mounts from the United States and its allies.
Without naming any country, President Xi Jinping told the SCO state leaders – many of them facing blanket sanctions and punitive tariffs from the US – that the organisation needed to speed up and achieve “real results” to better protect themselves from “hegemonic” bullying.
To that end, Xi suggested that the group, which is meeting in the
northern port city of Tianjin, set up an SCO development bank – an idea that was first floated in 2010 but has gained new urgency with American sanctions and duties.
China has been pushing the grouping to set up a development bank on the lines of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS and the Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank (AIIB), in which India is the second largest shareholder.
Both banks, based in China, which were initially regarded as competitors to the IMF, World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), are now working with them with a co-financing pattern.
The SCO has grown into the world’s largest regional organisation, with the participation of 26 countries, cooperation covering more than 50 areas, and a combined economic output of nearly USD 30 trillion, Xi said in his inaugural address of the 25th summit here attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday announced that the SCO member states have decided to set up a Development Bank to increase the efficiency and social development of the region.
The approval to set up the bank, a Chinese proposal, came after 10 years of deliberations among the member countries, Wang said.
He added that the new bank will increase the efficiency and social development of the region. He, however, did not indicate any timeline to set up the bank.
The SCO will launch this important process, and there will be one more multilateral platform in the EuroAsian region, he said.
It is a good thing to celebrate not only for the member states but also for our region, Wang said.
Wang said SCO has also approved the admission of Lao as a new SCO partner.
Also, the summit has decided to merge the observer states and dialogue partners into one unified state as the SCO partner.
This is aimed at improving the efficiency of the organisation, he said.