Life of Guangzhou - 2006 SCO summit opens in Shanghai

Presidents of SCO members meeting for summit in Shanghai

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is holding a summit meeting Thursday in China's largest city Shanghai, the birth place of the intergovernmental organization that groups China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The summit started at 9:00 a.m. in the Shanghai International Convention Center in the Pudong New District, with red carpets and handshakes between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his counterparts from the other five member countries -- Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (3rd R), Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (3rd L),
Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov (2nd R), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd L),
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev (1st R) and Uzbek President Islam Karimov pose for
a group photo ahead of the summit talks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
at Shanghai International Convention Center in Shanghai, east China on June 15, 2006. [Xinhua Photo]

The six heads of state is holding a closed-door meeting after a group photo was taken.

Later in the morning, other participants to the summit will join them for "big group talks" -- including representatives from the four observer countries of Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran, and international organizations. Afghan President Hamid Karzai will attend the talks as a guest of the host country.

The four observers are represented by Mongolian President Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora.

At the end of the morning session, the presidents of the six SCO member countries will sign a number of documents including a joint declaration marking the fifth founding anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. They will also meet the press.

Thursday's summit is considered a milestone in the SCO's history, which was established in Shanghai five years ago.

Chinese President Hu Jintao is scheduled to preside over the summit and give a speech that elaborates on China's policies toward the SCO and suggestions to push forward the organization's development.

Presidents of the six member countries will review the organization's achievements in the past five years, outline objectives for future cooperation and exchange ideas on major international and regional issues.

Backgrounder:

SCO, a young regional group with vitality

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) holds its sixth summit in Shanghai on Thursday. The following is a brief introduction to the five-year-old regional organization.

Founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, the SCO comprises China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It covers an area of over 30 million square kilometers, or about three fifths of Eurasia and the combined population of the member states amounts to 1.489 billion, accounting for about a quarter of the world's total.

According to its Charter and the declaration on the its establishment, the SCO works to strengthen mutual trust and good-neighborliness and friendship among member states, develop effective cooperation in a wide range of areas, work together to maintain regional peace, security and stability and promote the creation of a new international political and economic order which is fair, reasonable and democratic.

The basic principles of the SCO include adherence to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; respect for each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, mutual non-use or threat of use of force; equality among all member states; settlement of all questions through consultations, non-alignment and not targeting at any other country or organization; openness and willingness to carry out all forms of dialogues, exchanges and cooperation with other countries and relevant international or regional organizations.

The highest SCO organ is the Council of Heads of State, which meets once every year alternately among member states. The host country assumes the SCO's rotating presidency

The two permanent institutions are the Beijing-based Secretariat and the Tashkent-based Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS).

Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Iran are observers of the SCO.

Chronology of SCO summits

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) holds its sixth annual summit in Shanghai on Thursday. The following is a chronology of SCO summits.

-- June 15, 2001, presidents of China, Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan hold the first SCO summit in Shanghai, at which a joint statement is issued to announce Uzbekistan's participation into the "Shanghai Five," the launch of the SCO and the Shanghai convention on crackdown on terrorism, separatism and extremism.

-- June 7, 2002, the second SCO summit convenes in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. The documents signed at the summit include the charter of the SCO, the agreement on setting up an anti-terrorism agency and the presidents' declaration charting the regional organization's goals.

-- May 29, 2003, the heads of state from the six SCO member states hold their third summit in Moscow to discuss ways to meet challenges and strengthen cooperation in the region. At the summit, consensus is reached on the institutionalization of the regional body and on some major international issues. In a joint declaration, the leaders vow to further develop a comprehensive partnership among the six countries to face new threats and challenges.

-- June 17, 2004, the fourth SCO summit meeting is held in Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent. At the summit, presidents of the six SCO member states formally launch the Regional Anti-terrorist Structure and pledge to cooperate in fighting terrorism and new security threats and in strengthening their economic and trade ties.

-- July 5, 2005, SCO leaders hold their fifth summit in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, to discuss measures to strengthen unity and further cooperation in economy, security and people-related affairs. At the summit, agreements are inked for fighting the three "evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism and on assistance in emergency relief in disasters.