'China to Provide $281 Million in Grant to SCO Member Nations Within This Year': President Xi Jinping

Tianjin: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday pledged 2 billion yuan (approximately USD 281 million) in grants to member states within this year during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit.  

Speaking at the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO, hosted in the port city of Tianjin, Xi Jinping also declared that China would extend an additional 10 billion yuan in loans to banks within the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years.

Highlighting the scale of China’s economic linkages with the regional grouping, he pointed out that China’s cumulative investments in SCO nations had already exceeded USD 84 billion, while bilateral trade volumes had crossed the USD 500 billion mark annually.

China calls for SCO development bank

Reinforcing his vision for the bloc, Xi Jinping emphasised the need for the SCO to embrace mutual benefit and pursue shared growth. According to Chinese state media, he told the gathering, “We need to better align our development strategies and promote the high-quality implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

Calling for fairness and justice in global governance, Xi urged member nations to tap into their vast market potential and complementary strengths to advance trade and investment facilitation.

The Chinese President also underlined the role of cultural and social ties in binding the group together. “SCO member states need to enhance mutual understanding and friendship through people-to-people exchanges, firmly support one another in economic cooperation, and jointly cultivate a garden of civilizations in which all cultures flourish in prosperity and harmony through mutual enlightenment,” he said.

China announces 100 livelihood projects, SCO-focused scholarships

Separately, Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong unveiled a set of new initiatives designed to further benefit SCO partners.

"Going forward, China plans to implement 100 'small and beautiful' livelihood projects in member states with such need. It will provide RMB 2 billion yuan in grant to SCO member states within this year, and will issue an additional RMB 10 billion yuan in loan to the member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years," Xu posted on X.

He added that Beijing would significantly expand education-focused cooperation within the bloc. “Starting from next year, China will double the current number of SCO-specific scholarships, and launch an SCO innovative PhD program to jointly train high-caliber talent in academic as well as scientific and technological research.”

Looking ahead, Xu outlined further commitments: “In the next five years, China will establish 10 Luban Workshops in SCO member states and provide 10,000 human resources training opportunities.”

According to him, this year’s summit successfully consolidated consensus and charted a development roadmap consistent with the broader priorities set by Xi. “President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan held a welcoming banquet for the international dignitaries attending the SCO summit in China. President Xi Jinping stressed that the SCO has grown into a significant force in promoting a new type of international relations and building a community with a shared future for humanity. This Summit is tasked with an important mission: to build consensus among all parties, ignite momentum for cooperation, and draw up a blueprint for development. It is believed that with the collective efforts of all parties, this Summit will be a complete success and the SCO will play an even greater role,” Xu said.

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