(Yicai) Sept. 2 -- China will readily share the opportunities of its huge market and continue to implement the action plan for high-quality economic and trade cooperation with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the country said at the recent SCO summit held in the coastal city of Tianjin.

China plans to establish three major platforms for cooperation in energy, green industry and the digital economy, and will set up three key cooperation centers for scientific and technological innovation, higher education, and vocational and technical education, Xinhua News Agency reported from the summit, which ran from Aug. 31 to yesterday.

China will work with fellow SCO countries, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus, to hike the installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind power by 10 million kilowatts each over the next five years, the report said.

Energy, green industries and solar power have always been priorities for the SCO, Liu Xu, deputy director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies at the School of International Studies of Renmin University of China, told Yicai. China’s proposal for cooperation platforms can be regarded as a further deepening of this path. Supporting financial arrangements, including the early establishment of mechanisms such as the SCO development bank, would also promote regional economic sharing, he added.

Green energy and climate transition are now a global consensus, said Xu Poling, director of the Russian Economic Research Office at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. With its strengths in wind power, photovoltaic power and energy storage, China can help traditional energy-producing countries achieve sustainable development, ease environmental pressures and even broaden economic paths through industries such as eco-tourism.

China’s specific targets, such as adding tens of millions of kilowatts of photovoltaic and wind projects, are not only concrete steps for green transformation but also set clear and practical goals for future cooperation, Xu added.

China is ready to build the artificial intelligence application cooperation center with all sides, and share the dividends of progress in AI. China welcomes all parties to use the Beidou Satellite Navigation System and invites countries with relevant capacities to take part in the International Lunar Research Station project. 

China’s trade volume with other member countries of the SCO climbed 2.7 percent last year from the year before to USD512.4 billion, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce. Companies from SCO member states have already implemented a number of investment and industrial cooperation projects in areas such as oil and gas, agriculture, infrastructure, as well as emerging fields such as new energy and the digital economy.

Founded in Shanghai in June 2001, the SCO has expanded from six founding members into a 26-nation family of 10 members, two observers and 14 dialogue partners spanning Asia, Europe and Africa.

Editor: Kim Taylor