Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 2 (Xinhua) -- In the "SCO Story", we can feel the power of the times of "harmony".
Xinhua News Agency reporters Chen Shan, Zhao Yan and Liu Kai
At the port of Khorgos in Xinjiang, Arnur, a 17-year-old boy who had just finished taking the college entrance examination, put on a backpack and planned to "go to Kazakhstan to have a look", which was the first time in his life that he stepped out of the country; In Kyrgyzstan, 50-year-old Igor quickly bought a "Made in China" drone and "bought it as a birthday gift for his son"; In Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, Li Weichen, an electrical equipment operator, is planning a trip to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, "where there are many young people and great development potential, and it is worth investing......
"The aspirations of the people of all countries for a better life are our pursuit, and the trend of the times of peace, development, cooperation and win-win results is unstoppable." In July 2023, President Xi Jinping said this in his speech at the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Every year since 2013, President Xi Jinping has attended the SCO summit and delivered important speeches, drawing up a blueprint for the development of the SCO with the leaders of the participating countries.
The people are strong. The SCO has closely linked its own development with the well-being of its people, written the "SCO story" of the development of one country after another and benefited the people, and gathered the surging forces of the times to build a closer SCO community with a shared future.
"Integrating security and development issues"
Paktia province in eastern Afghanistan is hilly and densely forested with pine forests. The pine nuts produced here are full of granules and have a mellow aroma, which is an important export commodity of Afghanistan.
"In the past, in order to subsidize their families, villagers would cut down pine branches in winter and go to the city to sell firewood, and several mountains were cut bald." Villager Chin Mohammed told Xinhua that the local people used to rely on grazing and planting to make a living, but now the "pine nut charter flight" to China has changed people's lives.
"After the market is opened, to catch up with the harvest year, the villagers come to beat the pine tower, and there can be more than 600 people at most." "We can earn $800 to $1,000 a year each, and our income has increased by twenty or thirty times, and our children are now well fed and clothed," he said. ”
In order to achieve long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan, it is necessary to solve the problem of economic development. The little pine nut has become a "golden idea" to solve the problem together. In 2018, China opened a direct flight from Afghanistan to import more than 1,000 tons of pine nuts directly to China, generating tens of millions of dollars in income for Afghan farmers.
In November 2022, through the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Integrated Service Platform, the first batch of Afghan pine nuts completed one-stop customs declaration and other services. Gul Rahman, an Afghan pine nut processor, said the platform has opened up channels for Afghan goods to enter a wider market, which has led to local employment, "My factory employs more than 180 people."
The SCO has 9 member states, 3 observer states and 14 dialogue partners. In 2012, Afghanistan became an observer state of the SCO. For many years, the SCO has paid close attention to the Afghan issue.
At the SCO summit, President Xi Jinping repeatedly talked about the Afghan issue - "we need to deal with the situation in Afghanistan and strengthen security cooperation with Afghanistan", "we are willing to work with other member states to promote national reconciliation and economic reconstruction in Afghanistan within the framework of the SCO", and "we will continue to play the role of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group and the Coordination and Cooperation Mechanism of Afghanistan's Neighboring Countries......
"Integrating security issues with development issues is unique to the security concepts of China and the SCO." Jalal Bazwan, a scholar of international relations at Cardan University in Afghanistan, said that China has actively implemented the Global Security Initiative within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), bringing new ideas to the resolution of regional hotspot issues, including Afghanistan.
The benefit is greater than the cure, and the harm is greater than the chaos. From proposing the formulation of an outline for the implementation of the Treaty on Long-term Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation among the SCO Member States for the next five years, to promoting the signing of the SCO Convention on Countering Extremism, from strengthening communication and coordination with international organizations and multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the CICA Conference, to speaking out on hot-spot issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli issue and the Syrian issue, the SCO has continued to deepen mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation among the members of the SCO family in the "Shanghai Spirit", and has made positive contributions to maintaining peace and tranquility in the region and the world.
"SCO cooperation began in the field of security, and now it has covered political mutual trust, economic development, and people-to-people exchanges, forming a complementary and supportive whole." Former SCO Secretary-General Borat Nurgaliyev said, "President Xi Jinping has led China to play an important role in SCO cooperation, which has been highly praised by the leaders of various countries. ”
"We will continue to take care of the pine forest in front of us." Mina Gule, a 35-year-old Afghan villager who has never made it out of the mountains, has already felt that the real support of neighboring countries "brings more hope to our lives".
"A beautiful vision of mutual achievement and revitalization of development"
After graduating from university, 22-year-old Kazakh girl Eglim found an "unimaginable job" at the China-Kazakhstan Khorgos International Border Cooperation Center - cross-border live streaming. After more than a year of hard work, the number of followers of her account on the social platform TikTok has exceeded 30,000, with monthly sales exceeding one million yuan and a monthly income of nearly 10,000 yuan.
"Chinese products are of excellent quality and affordable, and they are very popular in Kazakhstan." Agrim told Xinhua News Agency that she hopes to save up for tuition fees to continue her studies in Shanghai or Guangzhou, "There are many new products and business models in China, and there are many opportunities, and I want to get closer and learn more." ”
The China-Kazakhstan Khorgos International Border Cooperation Center is a demonstration zone for regional cooperation under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In the 5.6 square kilometers of the fully enclosed area of the cooperation center, citizens of China and Kazakhstan and third countries can enter and exit without a visa with a passport or entry and exit permit, and each person has a duty-free shopping quota of 8,000 yuan per day.
"The SCO countries are at a critical stage of development, and they should give full play to their unique advantages of being close to each other and intertwining interests, adhere to the orientation of openness and cooperation, and achieve each other's vision of development and revitalization." At the 21st Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 2021, President Xi Jinping proposed to continue to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, ensure the safe and orderly flow of people, goods, capital and data, and create growth points for cooperation in the digital economy, green energy and modern agriculture.
During the SCO Qingdao Summit in June 2018, China announced its support for the construction of the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone (SCO Demonstration Zone) in Qingdao. Over the past six years, the SCO Demonstration Zone has gradually developed and grown from scratch, relying on multiple channels of "sea, land, air and rail" to create an international logistics pattern connecting Japan and South Korea in the east, Europe and Asia in the west, Mongolia and Russia in the north, and ASEAN in the south, opening 32 China-Europe train routes, with a total of more than 3,200 trains, and imports and exports to SCO countries totaling 21.34 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 70%.
At the Qingdao SCO Pearl International Expo Center, pavilions from different SCO countries showcase their own products. The Russian Pavilion is filled with vodka, honey, chocolate, flour, matryoshka dolls, scarves and other products. Svetlana, a Russian businessman who helped operate the pavilion, said that the SCO Demonstration Zone's open concept, digital management and efficient operation "have created new dividends for economic and trade cooperation."
"The SCO countries are opening up new avenues for economic integration and national modernization." Kather Nawab, an expert on Pakistan's Belt and Road Initiative, believes that China's Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative are closely aligned with the development goals of the SCO, effectively promoting the flow of infrastructure construction, trade and scientific and technological elements between regions, and stimulating regional development potential.
"An important platform for inclusiveness and dialogue among civilizations"
"We should promote the peoples of all countries, especially the younger generation, to connect with each other, so that the cause of good-neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation will always be vigorous." President Xi Jinping has always been concerned about youth exchanges under the framework of the SCO. At the 23rd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States in July 2023, President Xi Jinping announced that "in the next three years, China will provide 1,000 scholarships for international Chinese teachers and 3,000 places for the 'Chinese Bridge' summer camp to the SCO countries, and invite 100 young scientists to participate in scientific research exchanges in China".
In April this year, the 2024 "Chinese Bridge" Spring Camp for Young Students from SCO Countries opened in Xinjiang, with the participation of nearly 500 young students from Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other SCO countries. Arofat, a student from Uzbekistan, was one of them.
Alofat and his friends visited Xinjiang, Beijing and Northeast China, climbed the Great Wall, toured the Tumen River, and visited museums. What makes her most memorable is that everyone planted trees at the foot of the Great Wall and hung cards with their Chinese names on the trees, "The friendship of young people is very sincere, and we are willing to understand and support each other."
"The most solid foundation for the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization lies in mutual learning among civilizations, and the deepest strength lies in people-to-people bonds", and "civilizations merge through exchanges and progress through integration...... President Xi Jinping's kind words to the SCO family provide ideological guidance for the in-depth development of people-to-people exchanges in the SCO.
The SCO Youth Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation was held, the Traditional Medicine Industry Alliance was established, the SCO countries held a training course on poverty alleviation, a number of Luban workshops were held in Central Asia, cataract surgeries were carried out free of charge for people in the SCO countries, and the SCO International Museum Alliance was established...... The SCO has created one project after another in the fields of science and technology, education, culture, health, poverty alleviation, etc., promoting the vigorous development of people-to-people exchanges and deepening the sense of gain and identity of the people of all countries.
Akhrol, a sophomore at Tajikistan National University, learned to speak Chinese fluently at the school's Confucius Institute. This year, he signed up as a volunteer interpreter for the Lifeline Express International Brightness Trip in Tajikistan. Being able to assist Chinese doctors in treating patients in their own country made the young man "very fulfilling". In September this year, he will study at Zhejiang University. "I want to understand the colorful China in books and videos, study hard, and be a bridge of friendship between Tajikistan and China." He is looking forward to his new life.
Speaking at the 2024 SCO Dialogue of Civilizations on June 20, SCO Deputy Secretary-General Sohail Khan said that "the SCO has always been committed to promoting mutual understanding among peoples, developing and enriching their cultures and civilizations".
"The SCO has become an important platform for civilizational tolerance and dialogue. This is in the common interests of the vast number of Eurasian countries. Kirill Babaev, director of the Institute of Chinese and Modern Asia of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said.
In pursuit of stability, development, people's livelihood and morality, the SCO is gathering the majestic force of solidarity and cooperation, making significant explorations and practices to promote the modernization of regional countries and building a community with a shared future for mankind. (Participating reporters: Zhao Ge, Zou Xuemian, Zhang Jiye, Wang Kai) (ENDS)