Organize cooperation: how the SCO anniversary summit in Tianjin is changing world politics

On the last day of summer, delegations from more than 20 countries, where almost half of the world's population lives, gathered in Tianjin, China. The 25th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) started here on August 31. On the same day, Vladimir Putin's visit to China, unprecedented in duration, began: it will last four days — from August 31 to September 3. The Russian leader began the negotiation marathon with a bilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The Russian president also had short talks with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko and the host of the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the opening ceremony of the SCO summit, the head of the republic expressed the hope that thanks to joint efforts this event would be an absolute success. How Tianjin was prepared to receive distinguished guests and what is one of the main intrigues of the SCO 2025 summit - in the Izvestia report.

How Tianjin welcomed the guests

From the very morning, top officials from different parts of the world arrived in China one after another. These days, more than 20 leaders of countries that make up almost half of the world's population and a third of global GDP are gathering here. All of them flew to Tianjin for the two-day 25th SCO summit.

Tianjin is a large city in northern China, which, according to official statistics, can be compared with Moscow. The population here is 13.6 million people, it is the eighth largest city in the republic. It stands on the banks of the Haihe River, one of the longest in this region of China. The entire history of the city is inextricably linked with shipping, and it remains the largest universal commercial port in Northern China with a well-developed transport infrastructure.

Among other things, Tianjin is also the largest industrial center in the north of the country. The chemical and petrochemical industries are developing here, including with the active use of the resources of the sea and the coastal shelf. The factories of the largest technical and automotive companies, including Airbus, Toyota, Shell, British Petroleum, are located here.

The scale of the event is immediately felt: flags of the participating countries are hung along the main highway from the airport to the city center, and welcoming inscriptions in different languages for all delegations are on banners.

But in Tianjin itself, it seems, they did not expect such attention: the local population, who mostly do not speak English, is still learning about the historical significance of the historic summit that opened in the city from the news.

— I heard on TV that the presidents of other countries are coming. It's good that people will see our city. I hope they like it here," a Chinese woman named Siang told Izvestia.

How the SCO summit began

Vladimir Putin's flight arrived in China early in the morning on the day of the official opening of the summit. At Binhai Airport, the Russian leader was greeted, as always, with a flourish: a distinguished guest from Moscow was awaited by a guard of honor and a red carpet.

The Russian President arrived at the main pavilion of the Meijiang International Convention and Exhibition Center, where a reception was held in honor of the heads of delegations. Here, the host country welcomed the summit guests by singing their folk songs. The Head of state walked along the flags of the SCO member states to the sounds of the traditional Russian Kalinka-Malinka.

At the reception in honor of the opening of the largest international event, Chinese cuisine and a concert were waiting for the audience, which began with the performance of "Moscow Nights," said Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the President of the Russian Federation.

"I am confident that thanks to everyone's joint efforts, this summit will be an absolute success," Chinese Leader Xi Jinping said at the reception.

The Chinese president did not have a separate meeting with Vladimir Putin that day. However, full-fledged negotiations await Moscow and Beijing ahead, where the leaders will have time to discuss in detail all important issues for both countries. At the same time, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping had a brief conversation before the start of the summit. The Chinese President and his wife Peng Liyuan welcomed the guest, and while the rest of the participants gathered on the platform for a shared photo, the leaders, gesturing, discussed something animatedly for about five minutes with the help of interpreters. The Kremlin reported that Vladimir Putin told his Chinese counterpart about the results of the Russian-American talks in Alaska.

— The four-day visit of the Russian President once again underlines that the development of Russian-Chinese relations in the post-Soviet era is based on an extremely stable structure that is not subject to fluctuations in the international situation and regional dynamics in Eurasia. This stability is based on the principles of equality and mutual trust between the parties, which continue to contribute to the steady development of their partnership," Yang Cheng, professor at Shanghai University of International Studies, told Izvestia.

Vladimir Putin is expected to have many bilateral meetings with the heads of other states. On August 31, the Russian President held a meeting with Nikol Pashinyan. The Armenian Prime minister noted that he was glad for the partnership and dialogue that exist between the two countries, and the Russian leader added that "many questions have accumulated in the work of Moscow and Yerevan." One of the main intrigues of this summit is whether Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev will talk at the SCO venue against the background of cooling relations between Moscow and Baku. So far, there have been no reports on this issue: the leaders have not yet communicated personally, but members of the delegations of the two countries "actively contacted each other," said Yuri Ushakov. Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov expressed hope that they would be able to talk on the sidelines of the SCO on September 1.

Interestingly, Alexander Lukashenko managed to talk with Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif on this day. Moreover, in the photos published by the Belarusian media, the heads of state are clearly in high spirits.

After the reception from Lukashenko, I had a conversation with Vladimir Putin. Other colleagues with whom Vladimir Putin spoke that day included Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Despite the busy first day of the summit, the official program starts only on September 1. On this day, the central event of the event will take place — a meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States, which will summarize the SCO's activities for 2024-2025 and conclude dozens of documents.