Chinese President Xi Jinping has said China would accelerate the building of an SCO development bank at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, as he seeks to expand the organisation's influence and scope.
“Currently, as the global situation becomes more complex and turbulent, member states are facing more arduous safety and development responsibilities,” Xi said in opening remarks to the forum on Monday.
Xi pledged $1.4 billion in loans in the next three years for members of the SCO, not specifically designated for this new bank.
Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders of a few dozen nations are meeting as part of the SCO.
The group, originally seen as a foil to US influence in Central Asia, has grown in size and influence over the years, but remains largely a security forum.
‘An alternate world order’
With the addition of the bank and an emphasis on providing loans, Xi is attempting to expand the scope of the organisation.
China on message “He wants to provide an alternate world order, because the US-led world order is very much in decline. This is the main narrative,” said Alfred Wu, a professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
Xi also said states should “oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc-based confrontation and bullying, and safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core” while “advocating for an equal and orderly multipolar world, an inclusive economic globalisation, and promote the building of a more just and reasonable global governance system.”
Founded in 2001, the SCO's membership now includes Russia, Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Afghanistan and Mongolia are observer states, and 14 other countries, mostly from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, serve as “dialogue partners.”
