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1、Widening the CircleSINCE its establishment 17 years ago， the Shanghai Cooperation Organization （SCO） has seen cooperation among its member states evolve and expand from security to a wider scope that includes security， economy， and people-to-people exchanges. The organization has shown great potenti
2、al in maintaining regional peace and stability， seeking mutual development and prosperity， and promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning， thus to significantly benefit peoples of all member nations. Injecting New ImpetusDuring the 18th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the S
3、CO from June 9 to 10， Chinese President Xi put forward a five-point proposal for the SCO， covering aspects such as unity and mutual trust， peace and security， development and prosperity， cultural and people-to-people exchanges， and international cooperation， among which “building a powerful engine t
4、o achieve common development and prosperity of the region” clearly indicated the direction of the SCOs future development. President Xi said， “We should increase complementarity of our respective development strategies， continue to advance the Belt and Road Initiative under the principle of achievin
5、g shared growth through extensive consultation and collaboration， accelerate regional trade facilitation， and step up the implementation of the Agreement on International Road Transportation Facilitation and other cooperation documents.” He announced that China would set up a RMB 30 billion （US $4.7
6、 billion） equivalent special lending facility within the framework of the SCO Interbank Consortium.Foreign reporters attending the SCO Qingdao Summit praised the importance of economic cooperation in safeguarding regional stability， saying that it not only boosts economic growth of the SCO member st
7、ates and improves peoples living standards， but also promotes harmony among member nations and achieves balanced regional development.Stelmakh Natallia， a reporter from Belarus told China Today， “As Belarusian President Lukashenko said， economic cooperation laid a solid foundation for SCO member sta
8、tes to seek common ground.”By the end of May， 35 enterprises had already set up operations in the China-Belarus industrial park Great Stone， which included not only Chinese and Belarusian enterprises， but also those from Israel and Germany， as well as Chinese-foreign joint venture enterprises. Khan
9、Abdul Wajid， a reporter from Independent News Pakistan， said that in his country， Haier is a household name. “Nearly all Pakistani families use a Haier product. Compared to European and American brands， Haier offers quality products at affordable prices. Also I noticed that Chinese enterprises take
10、social responsibilities in improving education and reducing poverty and I would like to cover stories in this regard，” he said.The GDP of SCO members takes up almost one quarter of the worlds total， and member states jointly make up the largest regional market on the Eurasian continent. In 2017， tra
11、de between China and other SCO member countries exceeded US $200 billion.Closer ties in economy and trade accelerate the prosperity of all nations markets and forms a pattern of mutual benefit. For example， natural gas from Central Asia is used by Chinese families； Russian timber is made into furnit
12、ure in China； Cotton yarns from Pakistan and Uzbekistan are spun and weaved into clothes for sale in China. Most automobiles， power station grids， and cellphones used in other SCO member countries are made in China.“As China promotes economic cooperation among all the SCO member states within the framework of Belt and Road Initiative， the economic cooperation will be enhanced with highly interlinked benefits， eventually forming a community with shared interests，” said Chinas former ambassador to Uzbekistan Gao Yusheng.
