The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation

From the Pamir Plateau to the shores of the Caspian Sea, from the banks of the Volga River to the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, economic cooperation among the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is unfolding at an unprecedented depth and breadth. In recent years, guided by the "Shanghai Spirit", the regional economic cooperation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has continuously reached new heights, the scale of trade has continued to expand, the investment fields have become increasingly diversified, and the interconnection network has accelerated its formation. In this process, China, as the most important development engine of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, has always promoted pragmatic cooperation with an open and inclusive attitude, led the implementation of a series of significant cooperation projects, and injected strong impetus into the SCO and regional economic integration.

Economic and trade cooperation is the cornerstone of SCO cooperation. In recent years, China's imports and exports to other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have maintained stable growth, with imports and exports of 3.65 trillion yuan and 3.75 trillion yuan in 2024 and 2025, respectively, an increase of 3.8% and 2.8% compared to the previous year. In the first seven months of this year, China exported 1.58 trillion yuan to other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a year-on-year increase of 13.9%. Among them, the export of electromechanical products reached 998.35 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%, accounting for over 60% of China's total export value to other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during the same period. In terms of imports, in the first seven months of this year, China imported 840.21 billion yuan from other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a year-on-year increase of 16.6%, with energy and resource-based products being the main growth point. From a specific country perspective, Russia, India, and Kazakhstan are China's top three trading partners among other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In the first seven months of this year, their imports and exports were 1.1 trillion yuan, 748.39 billion yuan, and 224.29 billion yuan, respectively, an increase of 21.5%, 18.4%, and 19.4% year-on-year, accounting for 85.6% of China's total imports and exports to other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

In the field of investment, as of July 2025, China's stock of various investments in other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has exceeded 84 billion US dollars, and the scope of cooperation has steadily expanded from traditional oil and gas, mineral resources, and infrastructure to emerging fields such as digital economy and green economy. To ensure investment security and convenience, China has signed investment protection agreements with other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and upgraded investment agreements with Russia and Kazakhstan, significantly improving investment access and protection levels. In addition, China has formed the SCO Member States Investor Alliance with various parties and established a database of economic preferential policies for SCO member states, providing institutional guarantees for cross-border investment by enterprises from various countries. These mechanisms, led by China, are building the Shanghai Cooperation Organization into a more attractive investment destination and laying a solid foundation for the free flow of capital factors within the region.

To become rich, first build roads. China's advocacy for infrastructure connectivity is transforming the geographical advantages of SCO countries into development advantages. In December 2024, the construction of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan railway will be officially launched. This strategic corridor connecting China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will open the transportation arteries from Central Asia to West Asia and South Asia, and become a landmark project for the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" cooperation. At the same time, the China Europe freight train continues to expand and improve its quality, with a total of over 110000 trains operating as of June 2025. By 2024, the number of China Europe freight trains passing through SCO countries and regions will reach 19000, playing an irreplaceable role in ensuring stable and smooth regional supply chains. In addition, the Tongjiang China Russia Heilongjiang Railway Bridge and the Heihe Blagoveshchensk Heilongjiang Highway Bridge have been opened, and the freight volume of the cross Caspian international transportation corridor has steadily increased. The China Central Asia natural gas pipeline and the China Russia oil and gas pipeline are operating well. These series of major projects led or deeply participated by China are building a three-dimensional interconnected network covering the Eurasian continent, gradually making the vision of "turning natural barriers into roads" a reality.

Faced with a new round of technological revolution, SCO countries are actively seizing opportunities in the digital economy, and China is undoubtedly the main leader and promoter in this field. In 2025, the SCO Digital Economy Forum was successfully held in Tianjin, and China signed 12 digital economy cooperation projects with Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Egypt and other countries, covering cutting-edge fields such as cross-border e-commerce and smart cities. Of particular note is that in 2024, China has set a target of providing no less than 1000 digital technology training opportunities to SCO countries in the next three years. As of August 2025, China has trained more than 830 digital technology talents for SCO countries, helping member states narrow the digital divide and share the dividends of digital economic development through practical actions.

In addition to macro cooperation, China is also striving to create a number of replicable and promotable demonstration platforms. The China Shanghai Cooperation Organization Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone located in Qingdao, Shandong has attracted nearly 5000 registered enterprises. In 2022, the trade volume with SCO countries increased nearly tenfold compared to 2019, becoming a model for local participation in SCO cooperation; The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Agricultural Technology Exchange and Training Demonstration Base located in Yangling, Shaanxi has promoted advanced agricultural technologies such as hybrid rapeseed to countries such as Pakistan and Russia, achieving a complete industrial chain layout from seed breeding to international trade; In addition, the "small but beautiful" livelihood projects such as the China Tajikistan digital medical platform and the aid construction of rural health clinics have truly brought the achievements of SCO cooperation into ordinary people's homes, reflecting China's development concept of "putting people at the center".

Finance is the lifeblood of modern economy. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is accelerating the establishment of a regional financial cooperation mechanism, promoting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Development Bank to fulfill its duties as soon as possible, expanding the scale of local currency settlement, and improving the institutionalization level of settlement procedures. During China's rotating presidency, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Interbank Consortium continued to play a role in providing financing support. In 2025, China announced the provision of 2 billion yuan in free aid to member countries and promised to provide an additional 10 billion yuan in loans to member banks of the banking consortium in the next three years, providing valuable financial support for regional economic development. These measures not only help reduce member states' dependence on third-party currencies, but also provide strong guarantees for the economic and financial stability of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in a complex and ever-changing international environment.

From the groundbreaking of the China Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan Railway to the establishment of the Digital Economy Alliance, from the flourishing development of the Qingdao Demonstration Zone to the continuous improvement of financial cooperation mechanisms, the high-level achievements of the SCO economic and trade cooperation are not only the crystallization of the joint efforts of member states, but also inseparable from China's active leadership as the largest economy of the SCO. At the "Shanghai Cooperation Organization+" conference in Tianjin in 2025, China put forward a pioneering global governance initiative. In the future, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will move from project driven to system led under the framework of global governance initiatives, upgrade from bilateral cooperation to multilateral collaboration, and move towards a new stage of higher quality and more sustainable economic cooperation.