SCO forum highlights key role of digital economy

Digital infrastructure connectivity, industrial digital transformation and digital governance were highlighted at the 2026 Shanghai Cooperation Organization Digital Economy Forum, held from Monday to Wednesday in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Co-hosted by the National Data Administration and the Xinjiang regional government, the event brought together government officials, business executives and scholars from universities and think tanks under the theme "Promoting SCO Data Connectivity, Shaping the Future with AI".

The forum featured a ministerial closed-door meeting, the opening ceremony and main forum, and four thematic forums covering digital connectivity, digital trade and corridor economy, digital and intelligent industrial applications, and digital governance and capacity building. Side events included an interactive experience exhibition, supply-demand matchmaking sessions and field research.

During the forum, SCO member states reached consensus on the 2026 SCO Digital Economy Ministers' Declaration, agreeing to establish a ministerial dialogue mechanism on the digital economy for regular policy exchange and experience-sharing under the SCO framework.

The SCO List of Priority Cooperation Items and Intentions in the Digital Economy (2026-27), released at Tuesday's opening ceremony, contains nearly 20 cooperation intentions spanning digital infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, energy, transport and logistics, disaster prevention and mitigation, education and healthcare, and capacity building.

In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Zhang Qingwei, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, called for deeper policy coordination, stronger infrastructure connectivity and further innovation that benefits the people, as well as improved digital governance and security.

Sohail Khan, SCO deputy secretary-general, noted that with global trade facing deep uncertainty, digital economy cooperation among SCO member states will play an increasingly vital role.

Liu Liehong, head of China's National Data Administration, urged exploring new models and business forms for digital economy cooperation and to forge a path suited to SCO realities. He called for joint efforts to expand application scenarios such as smart agriculture, smart energy and urban safety, and to advance the use of data and AI to drive industrial digital transformation.