Chinese President Xi Jinping used a high-profile summit in Tianjin on Monday to call for a new global security and economic framework centered on the “Global South.” Addressing more than 20 leaders gathered under the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Xi urged resistance to “hegemonism and power politics” and promoted “true multilateralism.”
Xi stood alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a carefully staged show of unity before the meeting, with the three leaders laughing, clasping hands, and walking together. Putin, greeting Modi as a “dear friend,” said the SCO was restoring “genuine multilateralism” and fostering regional security outside the “Euro-Atlantic model.”
Xi outlined his “Global Governance Initiative” while announcing Beijing would provide 2 billion yuan ($280 million) in aid and 10 billion yuan in loans through an SCO banking consortium. He also proposed a new development bank, pledged support for artificial intelligence collaboration, and invited member states to join China’s lunar research program.
Formed more than two decades ago, the Beijing-based SCO includes China, Russia, India, and Central Asian states, with its influence growing as Moscow and Beijing deepen ties in the wake of the Ukraine war. Putin argued the bloc’s push toward settling trade in national currencies lays the foundation for a new Eurasian stability and security system that “genuinely considers the interests of a broad range of countries.”
