By Yasir Habib Khan
The birth of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) not only serves as a platform to connect SCO countries but also ignites a strategy to balance global power. This context underpins the importance of examining China’s role within this organization. In the process of promoting green energy transformation among SCO member states, Chinese companies have participated in the investment and construction of a series of clean and renewable energy landmark projects, effectively promoting the sustainable development of the regional economy.
Built by a Chinese company, the Al Dhafra solar photovoltaic project in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, generates enough electricity to meet the needs of about 200,000 households in the UAE. It also reduces carbon emissions by more than 2.4 million tonnes per year, provides about 5,000 local jobs, and increases the proportion of clean energy in the UAE’s energy mix to more than 13 percent.
The project is a shining example of how Chinese companies work with SCO countries to pursue green development. The UAE is a dialogue partner of the SCO. Today, green development has emerged as a highlight of cooperation among the SCO countries. Technological innovation in the ecological and environmental protection industries has emerged as a key driver for optimizing energy structures and facilitating green, low-carbon transformation.
For instance, the Huadian-Teninskaya gas-steam combined heat and power plant, jointly built by China and Russia, can generate 3.02 billion kWh per year. Invested and constructed by Hunan Junxin Environmental Protection Co., Ltd., the waste incineration plant in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, is the first waste incineration power generation project in Kyrgyzstan. Boosted by its dual carbon goals of peaking carbon emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060, China’s environmental protection industry has made major technological breakthroughs in various fields and become an important force for promoting green transformation.
Chinese agricultural technologies and models are gradually being adopted across SCO countries, delivering positive outcomes. At the agricultural technology demonstration parks in Kazakhstan and Belarus, comparative trials of wheat varieties have shown that Chinese varieties can increase yields by up to 60 percent compared to local varieties. At a China-Uzbekistan water-saving agriculture demonstration park in Uzbekistan, the use of smart integrated water and fertilizer irrigation equipment has reduced water consumption by 50 percent.
Being a pioneer, China is a true interlocker among the SCO countries despite their divergent political dispensations, cultural & social fabrics and economic needs. Membership includes diverse countries with different geopolitical and cultural backgrounds. China and Russia are the dominant powers, while smaller Central Asian nations like Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan also participate. India and Pakistan joined in 2017, followed by Iran in 2023. Turkey, Belarus, and Afghanistan hold observer or dialogue partner status. China has used diversity to enhance the SCO’s ability to address various issues, increasing the complexity of internal cooperation.
Economically, China plays a crucial role in regional development. Through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has supported infrastructure projects across Central Asia. Investments from Chinese banks and technological assistance deepen economic ties and increase regional integration. This economic collaboration has cemented China’s position as a dominant partner while maintaining the principle of equality among member states.
China’s military contributions to the SCO focus on collective security, primarily through joint exercises and information sharing. The “Peace Mission” military exercises exemplify China’s commitment to regional security, particularly in combating separatism, extremism, and terrorism. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) has enhanced security cooperation, with China providing military personnel and surveillance technologies to strengthen the SCO’s security framework. Politically, China promotes diplomatic inclusivity and compromise. Its role as a mediator between Russia and South Asian countries in SCO negotiations reflects its efforts to balance diverse political interests.
Given the acute crisis of polarization and anti-globalization rumpus, the SCO is taking centre stage in the international landscape by bridging the regional gaps, minimizing global divide and answering the call of the times. Credit goes to the “magical power” of Shanghai Spirit, which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development.
Since the time of establishment 24 years ago, the SCO has gained regional and international appeal because it neither opposes nor targets anyone, nor does it operate on the basis of a small circle’s interests; its original intention and core principle are to engage in dialogue based on the idea of “one earth and one family with one future”. SCO members hold over 25% of oil reserves, 50% of gas, 35% coal, and half the world’s uranium—a resource base with significant strategic leverage. In terms of economic gains, trade volume among SCO countries has been more than $25 trillion, which is almost 25 percent of the global trade and further cooperation will further increase the trade volume, which will result in economic growth and reduce poverty. This makes the SCO the largest transregional organization in the world in terms of both territory and population.
Over time, the “family” of the SCO has grown from its original six founding states to the current 10 member states, with 2 observer states and 14 dialogue partners-26 countries in total across three continents. Collectively, these nations cover over 36 million square kilometers (more than 65% of the Eurasian landmass) and include more than 3.3 billion people, around 42% of the global population.
Thanks to concerted efforts by its member states, the SCO continues to broaden cooperation in six main areas: politics, security, economics, humanitarian outreach, foreign policy, and institution-building. The organization has demonstrated an effective model for peaceful development, acting as a safeguard for security, a bridge of cooperation, and a bond of friendship. It stands as a constructive force supporting comprehensive security and stability, as well as common development and prosperity, laying the groundwork for a new type of international relations.
Though one of the significant challenges faced by the SCO is navigating the complex geopolitical landscape of its member states. Pakistan, India, China, and Russia and Iran-key players within the SCO — each have their own strategic priorities and regional interests, which at times serve oddity with one another. However, it is the beauty of SCO that such countries like to share the SCO stage, finding a way forward to work together for robust peace and prosperity. During Pakistan-India conflict in May 2025, China, as a responsible SCO country, played a pivotal role in de-escalating tension between the two nuclear-armed states with sagacious diplomatic efforts. The SCO provides a rare multilateral platform where rival nations can engage in dialogue, helping to mitigate tensions and foster greater cooperation. The 2025 heads summit offers an opportunity for these nations to engage in bilateral and multilateral discussions aimed at advancing regional peace and stability.
Looking ahead, the SCO is likely to continue expanding its influence both within the region and on the global stage. The future inclusion of new members and dialogue partners will strengthen the organization, allowing it to take on a greater role in global governance. As the SCO continues to evolve, its ability to foster collaboration among diverse nations will be instrumental in shaping the future of the region and ensuring that Eurasia remains a vital player in the global arena.
As the world tilts toward complexity, resource competition, and strategic rivalry, the SCO offers a window into how newly empowered nations may reimagine collective power.
The SCO originated from post-Cold War geopolitical shifts in Asia, with Central Asian countries seeking stable partnerships to address security challenges. The “Shanghai Five” meeting in 1996 marked the beginning of this cooperation, and in 2001, Uzbekistan’s inclusion formalized the SCO. The formation was driven by political, security, and economic needs, particularly to address threats like separatism and extremism. The SCO’s structure reflects collective and non-hegemonic values.
Being an effective model for peaceful development, acting as a safeguard for security, a bridge of cooperation, and a bond of friendship, SCO stands as a constructive force supporting comprehensive security and stability, as well as common development and prosperity, laying the groundwork for a new type of international relations. It is high time for concerted efforts by all its member states to let the SCO continue to broaden cooperation in six main areas: politics, security, economics, humanitarian outreach, foreign policy, and institution-building.
One of the significant challenges faced by the SCO is navigating the complex geopolitical landscape of its member states. Pakistan, India, China, and Russia and Iran—key players within the SCO—each have their own strategic priorities and regional interests, which at times serve in oddity with one another.
The SCO is necessitated to be a rare multilateral platform where rival nations, can engage in dialogue, helping to mitigate tensions and foster greater cooperation. The ongoing 2025 heads summit must offer an opportunity for these nations to engage in bilateral and multilateral discussions aimed at advancing regional peace and stability.
It is also expected that the SCO will continue to promote its primary goals like regional security, economic cooperation, and political trust-building in a bid to align with global powers’ endeavours to pursue ambitions on geo-strategic, geo-economic and geo-political stages. In addressing terrorism, extremism, and separatism, the SCO should emphasize its focus on high-quality infrastructure development, border stability, and technological collaboration.
The SCO 2025 is famed as the Year of Sustainable Development. The key areas, including poverty reduction, food security, public health, development financing, climate change, green development, digital econom,y and connectivity are direly needed to be underscored. The field of high-quality agriculture development is one of the pivots of future development trajectories across the SCO countries. Already, most has been done in boosting agri-based farm and industrial sectors.
The SCO has, in recent years, actively carried out agricultural cooperation to promote high-quality development of regional agriculture. The SCO Demonstration Base for Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training, which has strengthened technical output assistance in line with agricultural development, is the ultimate need of SCO member countries.
In order to establish modern agricultural technology demonstration parks that promote and disseminate more than 110 high-quality crop varieties and efficient cultivation techniques, more efforts should be afoot to increase the dispatchment of experts in 73 groups to SCO countries.
Speaking at the 2025 SCO Forum on Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development in May, Shen Yueyue, vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairperson of the Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the SCO, called on SCO countries to join hands to move towards modernization, promote cooperation on poverty reduction and sustainable development, and contribute to achieving common prosperity.
According to my insight, SCO’s main priority should be highly emphasized over the vision of a closer SCO community with a shared future, propping up efforts to build an open, inclusive, clean, and beautiful world marked by lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity as envisaged by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Another priority should be diversifying the vision of openness and inclusivity across SCO countries and regions. For business and tech enthusiasts, Xi’s message signals growing opportunities for cross-border collaboration and innovation. Thought leaders and changemakers can look to the focus on universal security and environmental stewardship as a call to action on sustainable development.
Sports and entertainment fans may anticipate new cultural exchanges, while travelers and digital nomads can explore Tianjin’s vibrant mix of modern horizons and historic waterfronts. As the SCO Summit 2025 approaches, Xi’s vision offers a roadmap for cooperation that could shape the future of Eurasian ties and beyond.
The SCO stands at an inflection point. It is both a product and driver of the emerging multipolar world—oscillating between rhetorical defiance and fledgling structural resilience. In the face of fragile Western-led institutions, it presents an alternative: a sprawling Eurasian bloc sharing insurgent economic ambitions, hybrid security frameworks, and an expanding diplomatic footprint.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has converged with BRICS objectives—both champion non-West multilateralism, challenge dollar dominance, and set up alternative financial bodies. Together, they embody an anti-hegemonic axis—with informal alignment accruing diplomatic weight. Observer and Dialogue states include Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Sri Lanka—signaling ambition to reshape global governance chains beyond Eurasia. As the SCO continues to evolve, its ability to foster collaboration among diverse nations will be instrumental in shaping the future of the region and ensuring that Eurasia remains a vital player in the global arena.
In 2024, China’s trade with other SCO members, observer states and dialogue partners reached a historic high of 890 billion U.S. dollars, or 14.4 percent of the country’s total foreign trade. In the same year, the number of China-Europe freight trains passing through the SCO countries and regions reached 19,000, an increase of 10.7 percent compared with 2023.
On the world stage, global governance is the focus of attention. SCO can become a solid platform to plead the case of global governance under the framework Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI), and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) envisaged by President Xi Jinping.
This year’s agenda prioritizes “high-quality cooperation” in the digital and green economy — two pillars seen as essential for long-term regional growth. Analysts argue the summit serves as a counterbalance to Western-led blocs at a time when the U.S. and its allies are intensifying Indo-Pacific containment strategies. In contrast, SCO states — including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics — are positioning themselves as advocates of multipolarity and regional solutions to regional problems.
One of the SCO’s most important achievements has been its role in promoting security cooperation among its members. The organization’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), based in Uzbekistan, serves as a critical hub for intelligence sharing and joint efforts to combat terrorism, extremism, and separatism. This security dimension of the SCO has become increasingly significant, particularly given the continuing instability in Afghanistan and the threat posed by transnational extremist groups operating in the region.
CPEC, a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has already begun to transform Pakistan’s infrastructure and economy. As part of the SCO’s broader vision for regional connectivity, CPEC offers immense potential for other SCO member states as well. It serves as a critical trade and energy corridor, providing access to markets and resources in China, Central Asia, and the Middle East. The development of Gwadar Port, in particular, opens up new possibilities for regional trade by providing landlocked Central Asian countries with access to the Arabian Sea, enhancing their trade routes and reducing transportation costs. Through CPEC and other related initiatives, Pakistan is positioning itself as a key player in regional trade, facilitating stronger economic ties among SCO members.
However, the opportunities for Pakistan and other SCO nations are not limited to infrastructure and trade alone. Energy cooperation is another critical area where Pakistan and its partners can benefit from enhanced collaboration. As global energy demands continue to rise, the SCO provides a platform for member states to work together on securing energy supplies, developing renewable energy sources, and sharing technological innovations in the energy sector. For Pakistan, this cooperation is particularly important, given the country’s energy shortages and its reliance on imported fuels. Joint ventures in energy production, particularly in renewable energy projects such as solar, wind, and hydropower, can help Pakistan meet its growing energy needs while contributing to regional energy security.
In addition to economic cooperation, the SCO plays a pivotal role in addressing shared security concerns, which are of paramount importance for Pakistan and the wider region. Terrorism, extremism, and drug trafficking are persistent threats that undermine stability and prosperity across the SCO member states. As a country that has long been at the forefront of combating terrorism, Pakistan believes that close cooperation among member states is essential to effectively counter these challenges.
Economically, Pakistan has positioned itself as a connectivity hub. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—a flagship Belt and Road Initiative project—has not only boosted domestic infrastructure but also linked Central Asian nations to the Indian Ocean, deepening regional trade integration. The importance of CPEC was formally acknowledged in the Joint Communiqué of the 23rd Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government held in Islamabad, where it was included in the SCO’s broader regional connectivity strategy. Pakistan also leads on the social development front. As permanent chair of the SCO Special Working Group on Poverty, the country spearheaded the “Digital Social Safety Net” framework using China’s big data technology. This initiative has already supported 2.3 million low-income families and aims to expand to other member countries by 2026.
After the success of CPEC phase I that helped Pakistan to improve its energy needs, green technology and economic infrastructure, Pakistan will proceed to seek the mark of formal launch of the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC-II), to be focused on industrial cooperation.
Along with the formal launch of CPEC Phase-II, Pakistan will ask for clear priorities, agreeing on tangible and measurable outcomes. Using the platform of SCO and the support of China, Pakistan will also make a stride to form technical working groups to explore and implement projects focusing on high-yield cotton seed development, advanced water-saving irrigation technologies, and modern farming techniques.
Meanwhile, Pakistan expects to deepen business-to-business cooperation, industrialization, agricultural modernization, and high-tech training after the milestone achievements of over 8,000 MW of energy, modern highways, and an optical fiber corridor under the CPEC framework.
Taking advantage of the SCO platform, Pakistan eyes enhanced cooperation in peaceful nuclear technologies and space exploration, with plans to send Pakistan’s first astronaut into orbit by 2026 and eventual participation in a lunar mission by 2035. Pakistan also likes to set priorities of peace, security and development, believing that without eliminating three evils—extremism, separatism, and terrorism, comprehensive development initiatives can never be materialized.
The author is president of the Institute of International Relations and Media Research. The views do not necessarily reflect those of ECNS.
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