Chinese President Xi Jinping poses for a group photo with other leaders and guests ahead of the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept 16, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING/ASTANA -- On June 15, 2001, then heads of state of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan gathered in Shanghai. Together, they announced the creation of a new regional group on the Eurasian continent -- the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The SCO is the only inter-governmental organization named after a Chinese city. It has become a key venue for China to bolster its cooperation with countries in Central Asia and the broader Eurasian landmass.

Over the past decade, Chinese President Xi Jinping has attended every SCO head-of-state summit, including through video conferences during the COVID period. He shared at this multilateral platform his thoughts and proposals with other world leaders on ensuring regional stability, achieving more robust common development and contributing to a better world.

"A just cause finds great support, and a journey with many companions gets far." In Xi's eyes, the development of the SCO, which represents about half of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy, accords with the trend of the times and goes along with the direction of human progress.