Economic cooperation for common development

SCO member states have passed laws and set up many cooperation mechanisms to promote economic cooperation within the bloc, and have achieved progress in areas of energy, transportation and telecommunication.

And now they also plan to further tap the potential of economic cooperation within the SCO via implementing more strategic and pragmatic projects at the multilateral level.

Moreover, financial support is urgently needed within the bloc, Li Hui, Chinese ambassador to Russia, said, adding that the SCO members should take the cooperation in transportation, energy and agriculture as their priorities.

Noting that the SCO Interbank Consortium and the Entrepreneurs Committee are not enough, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has urged the finance ministers and central bank heads of the member states to speed up the establishment of the SCO development bank.

Meanwhile, linking China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative and Russia's Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) development strategy is a great chance for the SCO to coordinate regional economic cooperation at all levels.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, agreed during Xi's visit to Moscow in early May to link each other's economic development initiatives, while the SCO is expected to play a key role in establishing such a partnership.

The SCO would gain more momentum in economic cooperation, as it would act as an interaction platform for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the EEU initiatives, Katyrin said.

Alexander Lukin, director of the Center for East Asia and SCO Studies at Moscow State University for International Relations, also observed that the Silk Road Economic Belt project could help relieve the SCO of many economic problems.