Background

Shanghai Cooperation Organization summits

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-06-09 14:45

BEIJING -- The ninth summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is schedule to be held in Tashkent, capital city of Uzbekistan on June 10-11.

The summit will discuss issues of strengthening stability and security in Central Asia, expanding SCO contacts with multilateral organizations, as well as other regional and global issues. The following is a brief history of the SCO summits.

June 14-15, 2001 -- Presidents of the member states of the "Shanghai Five" -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- met for their sixth summit in Shanghai and announced Uzbekistan's accession into the organization.

The six heads of states held the first SCO summit on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai and signed the Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, officially inaugurating the SCO.

June 7, 2002 -- The second SCO summit opened in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. The leaders of the six countries signed the Charter of the SCO to define the organization's development goals and institutionalize cooperation among member states.

May 29, 2003 -- The leaders of the six SCO member states held their third summit in Moscow to discuss ways of meeting challenges and strengthening cooperation.

At the summit, the leaders reached consensus on the  institutionalization of the SCO and some major international issues. The summit also approved the appointment of then Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Deguang as the SCO's first secretary-general.

June 17, 2004 -- The fourth summit meeting of the SCO took place in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

During the summit, the presidents of the six SCO member states formally launched the Regional Anti-terrorist Structure of the SCO, and pledged in a joint declaration to cooperate in fighting terrorism and coping with new security threats and in strengthening their economic and trade ties.

At the summit, Mongolia was granted SCO observer status.

July 5, 2005 -- The leaders of the SCO held their fifth summit in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, to discuss measures to strengthen unity and further cooperation in economy, security and people-related affairs.

The leaders agreed to grant SCO observer status to India, Iran and Pakistan. At the end of the summit, the heads of state issued a declaration on strengthening cooperation within the organization.

June 15, 2006 -- The sixth SCO summit opened in Shanghai. During the summit, the six heads of state proposed a long-term plan for the SCO development. They also issued a joint declaration on the fifth anniversary of the SCO, charting the course and identifying major tasks for the next-stage development of the organization.

August 16, 2007 -- The seventh SCO summit was held in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan. During the summit, the leaders agreed on ways to further develop all-round cooperation within the SCO framework and exchanged views on anti-terrorism, regional stability, economic cooperation and other regional and international issues.

August 8, 2008 -- The leaders of the SCO held their eighth summit in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe and issued a joint declaration on security, energy and several other issues.

The leaders also inked a joint communique on international affairs and the regional situation.

June 16, 2009 -- The ninth SCO summit ended in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, with calls for constructive dialogues and enhanced cooperation to tackle regional and international issues.

It was the first time that leaders from observer states -- Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran -- were included in a restricted meeting of the SCO Heads of State Council.