On the economic front, progress has been made in regional cooperation. The SCO member states signed the Program of Multilateral Trade and Economic Cooperation in September 2003 to identify development goals, formulate specific measures and vigorously tap cooperation potential. All parties have actively engaged in practical cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, finance, energy, transportation, telecommunications and agriculture, worked together to tackle the financial crisis and meet the challenges brought by globalization, and made headway in trade and investment facilitation and projects to enhance interconnectivity. The Chinese side has pledged a total of over $12 billion concessional loans to other member states, which has greatly boosted bilateral and multilateral practical cooperation among member states. Trade between China and other SCO member states has soared from $12.1 billion to nearly $90 billion in the past 10 years, representing a 7-fold increase. Such trade growth is higher than that of China's total foreign trade during the same period. Meanwhile, SCO member states have become one of the most important and prioritized regions for China's outbound investment.

On the cultural front, the traditional friendships between member states have gone from strength to strength. With much emphasis on cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, the SCO has carried forward and advanced the traditional friendships between member states, thus consolidating the popular support for its development. The SCO member states have constantly promoted their cooperation in culture, education, health, science, technology, disaster relief, sports, tourism and other fields, and signed a series of cooperation documents. The SCO University has been launched, becoming a new platform for SCO cooperation in education. People-to-people exchanges among member states have been closer. The concept that the people in this region should be "good neighbors, good partners and good friends" has been widely accepted.

In external relations, the international standing and influence of the organization has kept rising. The purposes and principles of the SCO have been widely endorsed by the international community. More and more countries and international organizations have shown desire to enter into cooperative relations with the SCO. The organization now has four observers and two dialogue partners. It has established cooperative relations and expanded the scope of cooperation with regional and international organizations such as the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and ASEAN. The SCO has taken an active part in addressing the issue of Afghanistan, and made its own contribution to an accelerated process of peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan. The presidents of Turkmenistan and Afghanistan attended the SCO summits several times upon invitation, which bespeaks SCO's appeal to different types of countries in this region. Thanks to its own efforts, the SCO has been regarded by the UN as an essential regional organization for addressing security in the region in all its dimensions.

Within a short span of 10 years, the SCO has developed from an emerging regional organization for cooperation into a constructive force for regional peace, stability and development. The most important reason is that it takes the "Shanghai Spirit," featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversified civilizations and pursuit of common development as the basic principle for cooperation. The development path and cooperation approach it has chosen serve the common interests of all member states, and accord with the general trend for peace, development and cooperation. The message proven by the development of the SCO is clear: the history will not end and different civilizations can converge.

In my view, the 10 years' development of the SCO has given us the following inspirations.

—Good-neighborly friendship is the basis. The SCO stands for mutual support of member states for each others' principled positions and efforts for national independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual respect for each others' rights to independently choose political, economic, social and cultural development paths suited to their national conditions, non-interference in each others' internal affairs and no use or threat of force. We in the SCO have strictly adhered to the democratic principle of equality among all countries, big or small, treated each other with sincerity, and made decisions on all SCO matters on the basis of consensus, thus effectively safeguarding the common interests of all the member states.

—Unity and mutual assistance are the guarantee. In light of the changing international and regional landscapes as well as various external impact on regional peace and stability, SCO member states have fought side by side against terrorism, separatism and extremism to uphold tranquility and stability in the region. We have worked hand in hand in tackling the international financial crisis to tide over the difficulties. We have collaborated closely and spoken in one voice on international and regional affairs. We have held the conviction that strength comes from unity and development of one country comes from the cooperation between us all. In face of difficulties and challenges, we have weathered the storm together and shared weal and woe. This is our valuable asset, the ability to create an enabling environment for development through collective strengths.

—Mutual benefit and win-win progress are the key. The SCO aims at common development and common prosperity through win-win cooperation. In response to the changing situation and the needs of each member state, the organization has made sustained efforts to expand and enrich cooperation in order to fully realize cooperation potential and advance common interests. The fundamental purpose is to ensure that the people of SCO member states can enjoy continued benefits from such cooperation so as to solidify economic and social foundations for closer cooperation and generate an inexhaustible driving force for the long-term development of the organization.

—Peaceful development is the banner. The SCO follows a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, mutual respect and consultation on an equal footing. It upholds the principles of openness, inclusiveness, transparency and non-targeting at any third party. It works to vigorously develop exchanges and cooperation with other parties, play a constructive role in international and regional affairs, build a harmonious region of enduring peace and common prosperity, and promote a more just and equitable international order.

The success story of the SCO in its 10-year development has given us more confidence to say that the choice we made 10 years ago to set up such an organization is correct, the path we have charted for its development is viable and the purposes pursued by this organization are right. The SCO has now become an indispensable and constructive force in Eurasia and a regional cooperation organization that its member states can trust and count on. This choice, this path, this spirit and this model should be carried forward in a better way.

That said, we must be keenly aware that today's international and regional situations are much more complex and fluid than 10 years ago, in which the SCO faces a more arduous task of consolidating regional security and promoting common development. Standing at a new historical starting point, we need to carry forward and build on the fine traditions and valuable experience of the past decade, and chart the right course of the development of the SCO in the next 10 years to ensure that such cooperation can bring the maximum benefit to countries in the region.

In our view, efforts should be made in the following aspects to deepen cooperation and strengthen capacity building of the SCO in the next 10 years.

First, continue to strengthen political mutual trust and enhance the ability to meet various challenges. The SCO needs to step up consultation and communication on issues concerning the core interests of member states, coordinate and formulate common positions on major international political, security, economic and financial issues, and become more capable and efficient in preventing and managing crises. SCO cooperation should be carried out on the basis of consensus and in a flexible and pragmatic manner. More emphasis should be placed on concrete outcomes and fulfillment of various goals and tasks.

Second, continue to deepen security cooperation and effectively strengthen the ability to resist real threats. Maintaining peace, security and stability in the region is the top priority and shared concern of all SCO member states. The organization needs to grab hold of the core issues and key factors affecting regional security and put in place a full-fledged system for security cooperation. It should spare no efforts in fighting against terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking and other transnational crimes and safeguarding global information security. It should hold joint counter-terrorism exercises regularly, expand the cooperation mechanism for security assurance and take concrete measures to ensure the security of multilateral transport, energy, telecommunications infrastructure and means of transportation.