The "Shanghai Spirit" is the driving force behind the Shanghai Co-operation Organization's progress, President Hu Jintao said yesterday.

"Though the ideology, culture and level of economic development may be different among SCO member states, the reason why the SCO has made such rapid strides lies in the Shanghai Spirit," said Hu.

He described the "spirit" as mutual trust and benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and the desire for common development.

And the Chinese Government has played its part by working closely with the member states to boost mutual trust and economic exchanges, he said.

Hu made the remarks in Beijing during a joint interview with the media from the six member states ahead of an SCO summit meeting to be held on June 15 in Shanghai.

He said he was confident that the summit would be a total success.

The heads of state of the six member countries will attend the summit meeting, along with observers and representatives from countries and international organizations that have ties with the SCO.

Established on June 15, 2001, the SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. In the past two years, it accepted Mongolia, Iran, Pakistan and India as observers.

Pointing to close economic ties, Hu said China has provided US$900 million in loans to other members.

The loans were in the form of preferential credit for member states that buy Chinese products.

Hu said China and other SCO members were working on 127 joint projects and had set up seven specialist panels to study and co-ordinate action in such fields as customs, transportation, energy and telecommunications.

He said trade and economic exchanges within the SCO framework have huge potential.

The summit will review the developments since the organization was set up, analyze international and regional situations, study the organization's development and outline co-operation plans, said Hu.

On China-Russia relations, Hu said they have reached an "unprecedented" high.

He cited the fact that the bilateral trade has grown rapidly for seven consecutive years and collaboration in fields such as energy and investment has achieved remarkable growth,

China Daily - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/31/2006 page1)