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China's President Xi Jinping speaks during a meeting in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Plus format in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on September 1, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) called on the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to make security a key priority and crack down on terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organised crimes, drug trafficking and telecom fraud.

"We should stay committed to taking security as a key goal, and foster an environment of common security. We should pursue coordinated measures to tackle traditional and non-traditional security threats,” Mr. Xi said while addressing the SCO summit in the Kyrgyz capital attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and others.

"We should crack down on the three forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism, transnational organised crime, drug trafficking, and telecom fraud,” he added.

Mr. Xi also spoke about the need for multilateral partnership for nuclear safety and security. “We believe in a sensible, coordinated, and balanced approach to nuclear security, and support a stronger multilateral partnership for nuclear safety and security,” he said. He, however, did not elaborate.

The SCO member states should strengthen cooperation on information security, bio-security, and outer space security, Mr. Xi said.

In a veiled criticism of the U.S., he said, “We must prevent external forces from interfering in our internal affairs, endangering our political security, and undermining regional stability.” He said over the last 25 years, the SCO has travelled an extraordinary journey and emerged as an important pillar of south-south cooperation.

"Its biggest achievement is that it has steadily grown into a new type of regional cooperation organisation with the largest land area and population and enormous development potential,” Mr. Xi said.

“Its most important experience for cooperation is that it has found the right way of coexistence featuring non-alliance, non-confrontation and not targeting any third party, enabling regional countries to build a common home together,” he said.

SCO’s most valuable spiritual asset is that it pioneered, and has since invariably followed, the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilisations, and pursuit of common development, Mr. Xi said.

The SCO member states include China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

China, which founded the organisation along with Russia and the Central Asian states, hosts the SCO headquarters in Beijing.

Mr. Xi, who is also widely expected to attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi on September 12-13, said that China will continue to ensure the success of the SCO Digital Economy Forum, the SCO Agricultural Expo, and other events.

"We will develop an international AI application cooperation centre with fellow SCO countries, continue to work with fellow SCO countries to increase the installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power each by 10 million kilowatts, implement 100 technological cooperation projects with other SCO countries in the next three years, and nurture more green industry talents through China-SCO cooperation,” he said.

To facilitate trade and logistics in the region, China supports improving the performance and efficiency of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor, and will establish a China-SCO port economic cooperation centre in Tianjin, Mr. Xi added.

Later addressing SCO Plus meeting ‘Jointly Advocating an Equal and Orderly Multipolar World to Achieve More Just and Reasonable Global Governance", Mr. Xi said authority and vitality of the United Nations need to be reinvigorated.

Dominance by just one or several countries, or bloc politics are not true multilateralism, he said and called on major countries to lead in upholding rules and the rule of law, and jointly address global challenges.

ALSO WATCH Modi, Xi and Putin share stage as SCO summit begins in Bishkek

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