Senior Chinese diplomat Zhang Ming, who is about to complete his tenure as secretary-general of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, summed up his feelings during the period in three words: gratitude, delight and hope.

"Serving as the SCO's secretary-general is an honor," he said in an exclusive interview with China Daily. "It is also more of a great duty."

Zhang, a former Chinese vice-foreign minister, became SCO secretary-general on Jan 1, 2022, for a three-year term. He will soon hand the baton to former Kazakh defense minister Nurlan Yermekbayev.

China assumed the SCO's rotating presidency in July, and it will host a slew of SCO meetings, including a summit next year.

Earlier this month, Zhang and Yermekbayev held meetings in Beijing with senior Chinese officials such as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Shen Yueyue, vice-chairwoman of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, to discuss matters such as China's SCO presidency and the organization's future growth.

Starting from the initial six member states 23 years ago to today's 10 member states, two observer states and 14 dialogue partners, the SCO's growth and expansion show its increasing influence, appeal and attractiveness, Zhang said.

"There are more applications in my office for joining the big SCO family," he said with a smile.

Zhang said he believes that as the organization keeps moving in its set direction, "its influence and appeal will continue to grow".

"After all, it is the basic norms and principles advocated and upheld by the SCO, and the Shanghai Spirit it promotes, that have brought about such an appeal and attractiveness," he said.

"We have always stood for fairness, respect and equality, and the member states enjoy a high level of comfort with each other in this big family."

In his view, the cooperation advanced within the SCO framework is of mutual benefit and offers great impetus to the development of each member, which also adds to the grouping's appeal.

Over the past three years, the SCO has held three summits, three meetings of prime ministers, more than 80 ministerial meetings, more than 250 expert meetings, and nearly 400 events in various fields.

During this period, the SCO added two new members and eight dialogue partners, and it established partnerships with international and regional organizations such as the League of Arab States and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Speaking of his hopes for the organization, Zhang said: "History has proved that the SCO's founding was a far-sighted decision, and history will again prove that the Shanghai Spirit continues to enjoy great vitality. The future of the SCO is full of hope and it also has a long way to go."

He voiced his hope that the organization will become more pragmatic, provide more opportunities for the development of its member states, and benefit their peoples more, so that their public can have a greater sense of gain and well-being.

"I hope that our organization will keep pace with the times, steadfastly advance its modernization and reforms, and improve efficiency and actions. I believe the SCO is an organization full of hope and with unlimited possibilities."

Many SCO member states are also participants in Belt and Road cooperation.

Zhang noted that there are landlocked countries within the SCO, and infrastructure projects such as roads and railroads are crucial to their economic and social development.

"When we join hands and work together to develop infrastructure, the inconveniences that come with being landlocked are solved. For the more than a decade since the BRI was proposed, SCO member states have actively participated in it and have benefited substantially, and I think the momentum will stay strong in the future."

Over the past 23 years, SCO member states have always upheld the Shanghai Spirit, which features "mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and pursuit of common development".

Speaking of the relevance of the Shanghai Spirit to the world today, Zhang said: "All the wars, conflicts and turmoil in this world are caused by such injustices as hegemony, unfairness, disrespect, injustice, interference in internal affairs, and bullying of the weak and small nations by those that are strong and big. In today's world, such practices persist."

He noted that the SCO advocates fairness and justice, non-alignment, no confrontation, no conflict, no targeting of any third party, and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries.

"A slew of instabilities and uncertainties have emerged in today's international situation. Under the guidance of the Shanghai Spirit and with a positive mindset, we will carry forward cooperation in the set direction with all our might and manifest the rich connotation of the Shanghai Spirit through cooperation, and will play an important role in building a fairer and more reasonable international political and economic order."

As the SCO is an international organization, its achievements are often not so much about building a specific bridge or paving a road, but making some institutional, overarching arrangements, Zhang noted.

"The adopted documents should never be put on the shelf, they should not be left on the desk for display. We should translate every paragraph in them into bilateral cooperation between our member states, multilateral cooperation, or joint cooperation among the 10 member states."

"In this way, we will make cooperation among us in various fields smoother and thus increase our productivity in various areas," he added.