Putin arrives in Shanghai for SCO summit

	Putin arrives in Shanghai for SCO summit (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-06-14 16:37 SHANGHAI -- Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Shanghai Wednesday afternoon for the summit meeting of a regional organization named after China's largest city. He will attend the summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an intergovernmental organization that comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The SCO was established in Shanghai in 2001. This is Putin's second visit to China in six months. During his two-day state visit to China in March, Putin signed a joint statement with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao and attended the opening ceremony of Year of Russia in China. In an article published on the eve of the summit, Putin hailed the SCO as "having introduced new patterns of successful international cooperation" and "an important factor for maintaining stability in Eurasia." Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov, Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev have arrived in Shanghai since Tuesday evening. According to an agreement of SCO member countries, the summit will also see participants from the four observer countries as well as the countries and international organizations which have established cooperative relations with the SCO. In 2004 and 2005, the SCO accepted Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran as observers. It has also set up official links with many international organizations including the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. On the sidelines of the summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet with the presidents of SCO members and participants from observer countries.