Hu urges more co-op among SCO members

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-16 21:40

YEKATERINBURG - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tuesday urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to further promote cooperation in politics, economy, security, culture as well as with the observers.

In a speech delivered at the ninth summit of the SCO held in the central Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Hu called on the SCO members to strengthen political mutual trust. The high level of political mutual trust and strategic cooperation is a unique advantage of the SCO, Hu said.

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"The SCO members should continue to implement the treaty of long-term neighborliness, friendship and cooperation, make use of the various levels and channels of meetings and negotiations to promote strategic dialogue, coordinate policy, gather consensus, and make efforts for common prosperity, regional peace and stability, and a more just, reasonable international political and economic system," Hu said.

The Chinese leader called on the SCO members to deepen economic cooperation. "The SCO members need to hold hands to jointly cope with the impact of the international financial crisis, and to push for the recovery of world economy," he said.

To realize this goal, Hu suggested SCO member states enhance coordination in macroeconomic and financial policies, expedite the implementation of energy, transportation, and telecommunication network programs, actively promote cooperation in new industries, push for more convenient trade, and protect an open and free environment for trade and investment.

He said member states should establish a financial dialogue mechanism, and strengthen multilateral cooperation in science and technology, in a bid to improve productivity through technological innovation.

Hu also proposed intensifying security cooperation. A just-signed document on anti-terrorism will enable the SCO members to jointly hunt for and repatriate criminal suspects, he said.

Hu suggested expanding security protection cooperation on major international activities to observer countries, boosting the fight against drug production and smuggling, against cross-border organized crimes, and implementing the agreement among member states on anti-money laundering, and protecting energy transportation pipelines.

On cultural and people-to-people exchanges, Hu said member states should strengthen cooperation in fields such as culture, education, public health, and tourism.

He said China hopes to strengthen cooperation with member states on disaster relief and to reach consensus on issues such as establishing disaster relief centers at an early date.

He said China supports the SCO to strengthen substantial cooperation with its observers in anti-terrorism, drug control, transportation, energy, disaster relief, and other fields in a bid to improve regional stability and development. He said China sincerely welcomes Belarus and Sri Lanka to become dialogue partners of the organization.

The Chinese president said China would strictly abide by its promises to continue to support the bilateral and multilateral programs within the bloc.

China would therefore provide a 10-billion-US dollar credit loan to SCO member states, the Chinese leader said, and will send trade and investment teams to the member states to discuss possible trade and investment projects.

Hu is in Yekaterinburg to attend the SCO's annual summit and also a meeting of BRIC countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India and China.

Founded in 2001, the SCO consists of Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran are observers of the organization.