SCO Summit: China's Xi Jinping slams 'bullying' behaviour in world order, pledges funds and projects to boost SCO

Chinese President Xi Jinping denounced “bullying behaviour” in global affairs as he hosted Eurasian leaders on Monday for a high-profile summit designed to showcase Beijing’s role at the heart of regional diplomacy.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) – which includes China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus – positions itself as a non-Western model of cooperation and an alternative to traditional alliances.

Addressing the leaders, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Xi warned that the international landscape was becoming increasingly “chaotic and intertwined.” He criticised “bullying behaviour” by unnamed countries, widely seen as a reference to the United States.


“The security and development tasks facing member states have become even more challenging,” Xi said in Tianjin, urging the bloc to uphold the “Shanghai spirit” and strengthen the SCO’s role amid global turbulence.

Jinping urged SCO members to pursue win-win growth, align development strategies, and deepen Belt and Road cooperation. He announced a grant of 2 billion yuan ($281 million) for SCO states this year.

Leaders including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin and Lukashenko walked the red carpet before a group photo, with Xi, Putin and Modi seen in conversation on live footage.

The summit, which also draws 16 observer nations and dialogue partners, opened Sunday, just days before a massive military parade in Beijing marking 80 years since the end of World War II.

Putin arrived with a large delegation of politicians and business leaders, while Xi held a series of bilateral meetings with Lukashenko and Modi, who is visiting China for the first time since 2018. Modi told Xi that India was committed to advancing ties based on “mutual trust, dignity and sensitivity.”

The two Asian giants, rivals in South Asia and locked in a deadly border clash in 2020, began easing tensions last October when Modi and Xi met after five years. Their rapprochement accelerated as former U.S. President Donald Trump pressured both economies with tariffs.

China and Russia have promoted the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led blocs such as NATO. This year’s summit is the first since Trump’s return to the White House.