Xi’s 2025 SCO speech: Global unity, challenges, cooperation, and resolve

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OPINION

By Dr Allawi Ssemanda

“This year marks the 80^th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the founding of the United Nations. It is a milestone prompting us to remember the past and create a better future together. Eighty years ago, the international community learned profound lessons from the scourge of two world wars, and founded the United Nations, thus writing a new page in global governance. Eighty years later, while the historical trends of peace, development, cooperation and mutual benefit remain unchanged, the Cold War mentality, hegemonism and protectionism continue to haunt the world. New threats and challenges have been only increasing. The world has found itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation.” These were the opening words of Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a speech at the just-concluded meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Plus, held in the Chinese port city of Tianjin, from August 31, to September 1, 2025.

This year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, which was the 25^th Heads of State Council Meeting, attracted more than 20 leaders from different countries, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, and Turkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was also attended by over 10 heads of international organisations, including the United Nations’ Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

The summit came at time when the world is faced with unprecedented challenges, such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and the raging Russia-Ukraine crisis. It came at a time when some major countries are prioritizing unilateralism and protectionism, weaponizing trade tariffs against other countries, or coercing and blackmailing others into accepting open hegemony and economic bullying. It is a time when some capitals are embracing mutual isolation and fragmentation instead of supporting win-win cooperation.

All this threatens economic globalisation and the aspirations of the World Trade Organisation that supports a rules-based multilateral trading system that has for years promoted stable global trade, arguably guaranteeing economic growth and sustainable development as an unalienable right of all countries, and not the privilege of a few powerful ones.

Drawing inspiration from history, President Xi argued that in difficult times, countries must “uphold our original commitment to peaceful coexistence, strengthen our confidence in win-win cooperation, advance in line with the trend of history, and thrive in keeping pace with the times.”

He then proposed a Global Governance Initiative (GGI), stressing that it would strengthen the systems of the current international order, which he described as facing three deficiencies.

Xi identified the first deficiency as the underrepresentation of the Global South, stressing that the “collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries necessitates boosting the representation of the Global South and redressing historical injustice.” He saw the second deficiency as the erosion of authoritativeness, characterised by failure to observe the principles, and serve the purpose, the U.N. Charter. In this regard, he decried the fact that some countries don’t respect resolutions of the Security Council, and abuse unilateral sanctions, thereby violating international law and disrupting international order.

Xi saw the third deficiency of the systems of the current international order as the limited effectiveness of the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which, he stressed, is lagging behind.

Xi then pledged that China is committed to working with all countries for a more just and equitable system of global governance.

President Xi proposed five ideas to help move the world from the politics of hegemony, the Cold War mentality, block formation, and uniliateralism, to a fair and peaceful world where the future is decided and discussed by all, and international affairs are addressed through consultations other than power politics.

In his view, the five ideas will help build a global village as a community of a shared future and shared prosperity for humankind.

President Xi further emphasized the need to adhere to sovereign equality among nations, stressing that “all countries, regardless of size, strength and wealth, are equal participants, decision-makers and beneficiaries in global governance.”

He also called for the promotion of what he described as “greater democracy in international relations and [increasing] the representation and voice of developing countries.” One can argue that while African countries were not at the SCO table in Tianjin, broadly speaking, their aspirations were ably tabled in Xi’s speech.

Further, Xi called on all countries to observe and abide by the international rule of law, which, he argued, was a major reason for the establishment of the UN. 

“The purposes and principles of the UN Charter and other universally recognised basic norms of international relations must be observed comprehensively, fully and in their entirety ... International law and rules should be applied equally and uniformly,” he stressed.

Explaining the critical role of consultation and togetherness in building lasting peace and meaningful development, President Xi underscored the importance of practising multilateralism and standing in solidarity against unilateralism, stressing the need for the world to “firmly safeguard the status and authority of the United Nations and ensure its irreplaceable, key role in global governance.”

Highlighting the principle of equality, Xi called for reforming of the global order to make it people-centred and ensure that “people of every nation are actors in, and beneficiaries of, global governance.”

This, Xi argued, will help to “better tackle the common challenges for mankind, narrow the North-South gap, and better safeguard the common interests of all countries.”

President Xi further called for a focus “on taking real actions”, adding, “We should adopt a systematic and holistic approach, coordinate global actions, fully mobilise various resources, and strive for more visible outcomes. We should enhance practical cooperation to prevent the governance system from lagging behind or being fragmented.”

While SCO was established in 1996 as a security grouping, named the “Shanghai Five,” and initially comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, today, its membership accounts for 23% of the global economy, and 43% of the world’s population. Given that security was a primary goal of the formation of SCO, the aspirations of the organisation cater for the concerns of the wider global south.

For example, unlike other groupings, such as NATO, which was also formed for security purposes, the SCO definition of indivisible security caters not just for members, but to all countries.

While SCO argues that to achieve sustainable and meaningful security, every country’s interests should be taken into account while at the same time addressing global issues, NATO only thinks about its members’ security.

To sum up, the success of the 25^th SCO meeting and future meetings of the same organisation are good news, not just for the SCO members but for the entire global south and the world at large.

This is because, as the group’s articulation of its concept of indivisible security demonstrates, SCO prioritises not just its members’ interests, but the interests of the entire world.

The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Development Watch Centre