The sixth Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO) summit opens today. It is an occasion to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the organization, and for top leaders to engage in a formal meeting to discuss important matters.

In addition to the leaders of the six member states Russia, China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, those of India, Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran are expected to attend as observers. Furthermore, as a liaison team has been set up between Afghanistan and the SCO, senior Afghan officials will be present as guests at the meeting as well.

Representatives of the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Commonwealth of Independent States are also invited.

The summit will sum up the experience obtained over the last five years and chart the future course of the organization.

The SCO was founded in 2001, on the basis of the "Shanghai five-country mechanism," which was crafted in 1996.

Five years of development and exploration have given the SCO salient features.

First, the SCO is the first regional organization that was founded in China, named after a Chinese city and headquartered in the country.

Second, the SCO is one of the international organizations that first put forward anti-terrorism statements. Co-operation among the member states has spread from security to economic and cultural areas. Co-operation in the realm of security constitutes the basis of survival, regional economic collaboration is the engine powering economic growth and cultural co-operation serves to bring different peoples closer.

Third, guided by the principle of "mutual trust, mutual benefits, equality, consultation, respecting pluralist civilizations and seeking common development," the SCO is faring well and has seen accomplishments in various aspects. The organization is maturing, having gone past hardest initial period.

Fourth, the SCO never seeks confrontation and its undertakings are never targeted at another country.

All these have given the organization vitality and energy, which find expression in the achievements made.

Over the last five years, several dozen co-operative documents have been signed, which laid down the legal foundation of the SCO and helped bring about effective and workable co-operation mechanisms.

In the security field, for instance, the Shanghai Convention Against Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism was signed and a regional anti-terror organization was set up in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. Three joint anti-terror exercises have been staged and the member states have decided to hold another anti-terrorism exercise in Russia next year. Effective co-operation in this regard has led to stability in the region.

The co-operation in the economic and trade field, on the principle of mutual benefit, has helped promote economic development of the member states.

The Basic Objectives and Orientation of Regional Economic Co-operation was signed in 2003 in Beijing, and the supporting measures to implement the programme have been worked out.

Seven panels specializing in quality inspection, customs affairs, e-commerce, investment promotion, transportation, energy and telecommunications were set up. In addition, China has promised to provide loans worth US$900 million to other member states to facilitate their exports.

In the realm of culture and humanities, co-operation is progressing in depth, which helps the member states play a bigger role in regional and international affairs.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev once observed that the SCO, with its great political and economic potential, plays an indispensable role in guaranteeing regional security and stability.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov claimed that the SCO's significance and influence have gone far beyond the region, and it has become an international forum that addresses political affairs, security, economics and humanities in the region.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov said that the SCO is exerting a positive influence on the process of world peace and has offered a good example for other countries and regions in seeking common ground and realizing common interests in the context of different civilizations and religious faiths.

Mutual trust, unity and co-operation are expected to be further promoted at this year's summit.

It is expected that a declaration marking the fifth anniversary of the SCO, together with other important documents, will be issued. The conference is also expected to make public the documents relevant to international information security and make important decisions on setting up the organization's personnel department and secretariat.

The discussion will focus on strengthening anti-terror measures and fighting international crime. Issues involved in joint anti-terror campaigns staged in the territories of the member states are being worked out. Leaders of the SCO states will sign a package of agreements and pacts on joint military exercises and co-operation. Also afoot is the hammering-out of plans to set up a joint data bank in which information on terrorists, separatists and extremists is to be stored and shared.

A programme of financially supporting economic projects within the SCO framework is expected to be formulated at the summit. Negotiations on a transnational highway system are under way, which includes simplifying customs procedures to facilitate border trade. Also, co-operative education programmes are expected to be signed at the summit.

All the member states share the same wishes: Independence of their state, stability of their political situation and the development of their economy. They have the same concerns: Safeguarding against terrorism, separatism and extremism. And they have the common aspirations: Being good neighbours, good friends and good partners to facilitate co-operation in the years to come.

Fairly complete organizational and legal systems within the SCO framework have been instituted and working experience gained, laying a solid foundation for future development.

The SCO member states have huge potential in economic, energy and transportation co-operation in the future. If a comprehensive communications network involving overland, marine and airborne transportation materializes, the vast Eurasian landmass will be linked up to form a huge economic zone with enormous potential.

The expansion of the SCO depends on the actual needs of its member states and on realistic situations. There will be no hurry or rashness.

The SCO will not become a military alliance, let alone an "Eastern NATO." Economic co-operation among its member states is not targeted at the European Union. The SCO simply aims to become a more united, more practical and more effective regional co-operative organization.

The author is a senior research fellow of the Research Centre of Contemporary World.

(China Daily 06/15/2006 page4)