SHANGHAI: Heads of state from the six-nation Shanghai Co-operation
Organization (SCO) will meet today to chart a path for the group's future, after
President Hu Jintao yesterday hosted a series of commemorative activities and
meetings.
President Hu Jintao (first right,
front) talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President
Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov after a tree planting
ceremony marking the 5th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization at a hotel in west Shanghai yesterday.
[Xinhua] |
The one-day SCO summit, to be held
at the Shanghai International Convention Centre, coincides with the fifth
anniversary of the organization's founding on June 15, 2001 and the 10th of its
prototype the Shanghai Five mechanism.
While meeting his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmonov yesterday afternoon, Hu
said the summit is of great significance.
"With joint efforts of each party, I believe the summit will achieve its goal
of strengthening mutual trust, promoting unity and deepening co-operation," he
said.
The regional body grouping China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan is the first international organization with its headquarters in
China.
As the annual SCO summit returns to its birthplace, the six presidents will
review the organization's five-year achievements, outline objectives for future
co-operation, and exchange views on major international and regional issues.
The summit is also expected to pass a declaration and endorse dozens of
documents that promote stronger bilateral and multilateral co-operation in a
wide range of sectors.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai and leaders of four SCO observer countries
Mongolia, Iran, India and Pakistan will also be present at the summit.
Ahead of what is called a "milestone" meeting, Hu, along with his five
foreign counterparts, attended a tree-planting ceremony in the Xijiao State
Guest Hotel yesterday afternoon.
With the help of six children, they planted a white magnolia tree Shanghai's
city flower noted for its splendid blossoms in early spring before inaugurating
a monument in commemoration of the event.
Because magnolia trees can live for as long as 1,000 years, it is said the
tree signifies the vitality of the SCO.
The ceremony was such that even the shovels the top leaders used bore the
national emblem of their respective countries.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev,
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov, Uzbek
President Islam Karimov and other guests were then treated to a sightseeing boat
tour of the Huangpu River, which runs through this economic hub of China.
A dazzling fireworks display was staged during the tour, lighting up the sky
over the river and adding to the appeal of the eye-catching city.
Also yesterday afternoon, Hu held separate meetings with President Rakhmonov
of Tajikistan, President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and President Karimov of
Uzbekistan on bilateral relations and the growth of the SCO.
The Chinese president said Beijing appreciated the three central Asian
countries' firm support for China in the fight against terrorist forces of "East
Turkistan."
The Chinese side is ready to push for stronger links with the three countries
in wide-ranging fields such as economy, trade and energy, he said.
The three presidents pledged further co-operation with China in cracking down
on the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism to safeguard
security and stability in the region.
Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo of the Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) and Deputy Secretary-General Wilfrido. V. Villacorta of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will attend the summit as guests.
It was the first time that the SCO invited representatives of some
international organizations that have co-operative ties with it to its summit.
