China and Russia presented their vision of a new international order at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, where Beijing offered new financial incentives to countries aligned with the Beijing-led economic and security group.
“Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told the summit on Monday, in remarks that were widely seen as a critique of the United States.
“We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism,” Xi said.
Xi’s remarks were echoed by those of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said the SCO would revive “genuine multilateralism” as it laid “the political and socioeconomic groundwork for the formation of a new system of stability and security in Eurasia”.
Xi and Putin spoke to more than 20 leaders, primarily from the Middle East and Asia, who had gathered on Sunday and Monday for the summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin.
Seen as an alternative power structure to most US-led international institutions, the 10-member SCO includes much of Central Asia, Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and Belarus, with more than a dozen permanent dialogue partner countries, including Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Qatar, and Turkiye.
Though the work of the SCO has been largely symbolic since its founding in 2001, Xi outlined grander ambitions for the bloc at the summit.
Xi called for the creation of a new SCO development bank, and announced 2 billion RMB ($280m) in grants plus another 10 billion RMB ($1.4bn) in loans for SCO members.
The pivot into international finance marks a major turning point for the institution, said Eric Olander, the editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project.
“Since the SCO’s founding 24 years ago, it has been a largely ineffective body with very few notable accomplishments. I think that’s going to change as the membership expands and Xi backs the SCO with development finance money, which is something we haven’t seen before,” he told Al Jazeera.
Xi also outlined a new “Global Governance Initiative” (GGI).
While light on details beyond espousing values such as “multilateralism” and “sovereign equality”, Olander said Xi’s speech offers insight into Beijing’s global ambitions.
“With the GGI, Xi is basically saying the quiet part out loud, that China is seeking to create a parallel global governance system outside the US and European-led order, something that would have been inconceivable a decade ago,” Olander said.
He attributed the shift to changing perceptions of the US in world affairs and demand from the Global South for a greater say in international affairs.
China’s push for multilateralism also comes at a time of growing distrust with the US under the leadership of President Donald Trump, whose trade war has provided SCO members and sometimes-rivals – such as China and India – with common grievances.
Ties between New Delhi and China plummeted in 2020 following skirmishes along their joint border in the Himalayas.
While relations began to normalise last year following a border agreement, Trump’s trade war has helped to speed up thawing diplomatic ties between the countries, according to analysts.
Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to resolve their differences at the summit, which came just days after Trump imposed a punitive 50 percent tariff on Indian goods and blasted the country for its purchase of Russian energy exports.
Xi, Modi, and Putin were also photographed talking and walking together, in another sign of diplomatic unity.
Most of the world leaders attending the SCO are expected to remain in China this week to attend a huge military parade in Beijing on Wednesday, commemorating the end of World War II in Asia.
They will be joined by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who is expected to have a prominent position at the parade alongside Xi and Putin.
