Speech by H.E. Li Keqiang at the 17th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Guided by the first meeting of heads of the SCO railway administrations, we should continue to enhance the cooperation mechanism among our railway administrations, improve the harmonization of policies, technologies and standards, and expand the cross-border railway networks in the region. Efforts should also be made to set up multimodal logistics centers and equip them with up-to-date technologies to automate and simplify border, customs and sanitary procedures for goods clearance in order to create an enabling “soft environment”.

Fifth, we need to harness innovation to foster new driving forces for common development. This round of technological and industrial revolution is characterized by the rapid emergence of next-generation information technologies like the internet, big data and artificial intelligence. Against this backdrop, countries are all working to cultivate new areas of growth.

As we the SCO member states are at a critical development phase, we should make the most of this opportunity to increase resource input in science, technology and innovation and upgrade the industrial structure with new technologies, new forms of business and new models. This will help us speed up the transition from old growth drivers to new ones and achieve better quality of economic development.

We need to step up cooperation in innovation by developing closer ties among our research institutions. In this context, the 2019-2020 Plan of Practical Measures (Roadmap) for Cooperation among Research Institutions of the SCO Member States to be adopted today should be well implemented, with priority given to experience-sharing and technological cooperation in digital economy, smart manufacturing, bio-technologies, clean energy and meteorology.

We need to tap the potential through more training and exchange programs for our science and technology professionals. China will invite young scientists from other SCO member states for short-term research and study programs in China, and will host an SCO young innovators and entrepreneurs competition later this year and a seminar on the management of science and technology parks next year. We welcome your participation and believe that through our joint efforts, we can add a strong impetus to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sixth, we need to promote people-to-people ties to cement public support for common development. Good-neighborliness and friendship is our shared aspiration. People-to-people interactions bring us closer. We need to continue with exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, health, environmental protection, sports and tourism and among our youth to deepen the bonds and mutual trust among our people. We need to make greater effort to develop the University of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to cultivate a reservoir of talent in nanotechnology, IT, ecology and other areas.

To follow up on the Concept for SCO Member States’ Cooperation in Environmental Protection, we need to formulate its implementation plans as early as possible to promote green development in the SCO region. We also need to collaborate on disaster prevention and relief by improving forecast, early warning and information sharing mechanisms for major disasters and applying more advanced science and technologies to our training and cooperation in this area. China hopes to encourage cooperation among medical institutions of member states under the SCO hospital alliance. We are ready to leverage Xinjiang as an international medical service center to provide other SCO countries with cross-border telemedical services.