By Xu Xiujun, deputy director of International Politics and Economics Department, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; cartoon drawing by Liao Tingting

Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the 16th meeting of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) Council of Heads of State convened in Tashkent, capital city of Uzbekistan, on July 24.

This is the highlight of Xi’s Eurasian trip. He delivered a speech titled, Upholding the "Shanghai Spirit”, consolidating unity and mutual trust, and comprehensively deepening the SCO cooperation and proposed a five-point proposal on its future development.

Xi presided at the third meeting among heads of state including Russia, Mongolia and China, holding bilateral meetings with leaders attending the Tashkent summit and reached broad consensus.

2016 marks the 15th anniversary of the founding of the SCO. The Tashkent summit links the past and future. The SCO launched an expansion process officially for the first time, and approved the SCO Development Strategy by 2025, the Implementation Action Plan (2016–2020) and other documents, opening a new chapter for SCO history.

At a critical moment, Xi's speech injected new momentum for the SCO to promote cooperation in various fields, strengthen regional security and stability and sustainable development. Xi’s five-point proposal has guided the direction for the SCO to uphold the Shanghai Spirit at a higher level and a wider range.

People are convinced that under the guidance of the Shanghai Spirit, the circle of the SCO’s friends will continue to expand, playing an increasingly important role in constructing a new Eurasian community of destiny.