Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong on Monday announced a series of initiatives that China will roll out for the benefit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states.
“Going forward, China plans to implement 100 ‘small and beautiful’ livelihood projects in member states that require them. It will provide RMB 2 billion yuan in grants to SCO member states within this year, and will issue an additional RMB 10 billion yuan in loans to the member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years,” Xu posted on X.
He added that from next year, China will double the number of SCO-specific scholarships and launch an SCO Innovative PhD programme to jointly train high-caliber talent in academics as well as scientific and technological research.
Outlining the long-term vision, Xu said, “In the next five years, China will establish 10 Luban Workshops in SCO member states and provide 10,000 human resources training opportunities.”
Xu noted that the SCO Summit had helped build consensus and chart a development blueprint, echoing President Xi Jinping’s vision for deeper cooperation.
During the summit, President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a welcoming banquet for international dignitaries. Xi stressed that the SCO has become an influential force in advancing new international relations and building a community with a shared future for humanity. He said the Summit aimed to unite members, drive cooperation, and set the course for development.
Meanwhile, India joined other SCO members to deepen cooperation in Artificial Intelligence (AI), underscoring its strategic role in shaping societies and economies.
The Tianjin Declaration of the SCO Council of Heads of State, adopted at the 2025 Summit, reaffirmed commitments to AI among other sectors. The declaration built on the UN General Assembly Resolution on AI capacity building and underlined that all countries have equal rights to develop and use AI.
SCO members, including India, pledged to work together to prevent risks and improve the security, accountability, transparency, inclusiveness, and fairness of AI technologies for the benefit of humanity. They also endorsed the Roadmap for the Implementation of the SCO Member States’ Cooperation Programme on AI Development (Chengdu, June 12, 2025).
In his keynote address, Xi proposed deeper collaboration in areas such as energy, infrastructure, the digital economy, science and technology innovation, and artificial intelligence.
The summit also drew attention with the deployment of a humanoid AI robot named Xiao, which assisted media personnel and attendees with various tasks. Xiao’s advanced capabilities and human-like design attracted wide interest and admiration at the event.
-ANI