Chinese President Xi Jinping has told United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that China supports the global organisation playing a central role in international affairs and that it upholds “true multilateralism”, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV.
Xi shared this message with Guterres on Saturday as the UN chief visited China to attend the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
China will remain a reliable partner of the UN, President Xi added.
For his part, Guterres told Xi: “The support of China…is an extremely important element to preserve.”
The 25th SCO summit and the “SCO Plus” meeting will be held on Sunday and Monday in northern China’s Tianjin, showcasing Global South solidarity.
The high-level gathering comes amid rising geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its escalating assault on the occupied West Bank, security tensions in South Asia and the Asia Pacific region, notably between Thailand and Cambodia, and United States President Donald Trump’s global trade war.
As the rotating chair, Xi will preside over the summit, which marks the fifth annual SCO summit hosted by China.
Leaders from more than 20 countries and heads of 10 international organisations will attend the summit.
Among the participants will be Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masood Pezeshkian and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Xi will also meet Erdogan on the sidelines of the crucial summit.
The summit’s agenda includes promoting the “Shanghai Spirit”, improving internal mechanisms, and fostering multilateral cooperation in areas such as security, economics and culture.
A joint signing of the new Tianjin Declaration and the approval of a strategy for the next decade are other expected outcomes.
The summit will issue statements marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, and the 80th founding anniversary of the UN, aside from adopting a string of outcome documents on strengthening security, economic, people-to-people and cultural cooperation.
Founded in 2001, the SCO is a political and security alliance comprising 10 members: China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
The Chinese leader will also host Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a large-scale military parade on September 3 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia.
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