SCO Approves Development Strategy Through 2035 and Package of Key Documents

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The heads of states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries approved the organization’s Development Strategy through 2035 and a package of accompanying documents following the 25th, anniversary summit of the SCO held in Tianjin.

The Strategy outlines the SCO’s key goals and objectives, as well as the methods for achieving them by 2035. The document envisages strengthening mutual trust and good-neighborliness among member states, jointly countering security threats within the SCO area, and deepening practical cooperation in trade, economy, finance, and investment.

The outcomes of China’s chairmanship in the organization are reflected in the Tianjin Declaration. In addition, a package of documents was adopted on cooperation in various areas, including the SCO Member States’ Cooperation Program for Countering Extremist Ideology for 2026–2030 and the Roadmap for Implementing the Energy Cooperation Development Strategy through 2030.

The SCO received observer status in the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Laos was granted dialogue partner status. Within the organization, a decision was made to merge the categories “observer” and “dialogue partner” into a single category, “SCO partner,” which will optimize the system of international cooperation.

Following the summit, two interstate agreements were signed: on the establishment of the SCO Anti-Narcotics Center, to be based in Dushanbe as a permanent body, and on the creation of the SCO Universal Center to counter security challenges and threats to member states, which will be located in Tashkent on the basis of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure. The Universal Center will include an Information Security Center and a Center for Combating International Organized Crime in Bishkek as a branch.

The city of Cholpon-Ata in Kyrgyzstan was declared the SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital for 2025–2026.

Additionally, the summit approved a series of statements by the SCO Council of Heads of State on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the establishment of the UN, strengthening cooperation in the digital economy, sustainable energy development, green industry, international cooperation in artificial intelligence, supporting the multilateral trading system, effectively addressing the drug problem, and developing scientific, technical, and innovative cooperation.