2023 SCO Media & Think Tank Forum Held
On July 28, the 2023 SCO Media & Think Tank Forum was held at Qingdao · SCODA Pearl International Expo Center under the guidance of the China International Publishing Group and the SCO Secretariat. The theme of this forum is "Promoting High-Quality Development along the Belt and Road and Building a Closer SCO Community with a Shared Future".
Gao Anming, Deputy Director General and Editor-in-Chief of China International Publishing Group, Zhang Xinzhu, Member of the Standing Committee of CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and Secretary of the Party Working Committee of SCODA, and Logvinov Grigory, SCO Deputy Secretary General, attended the forum and delivered speeches.
Li Gang, Vice Secretary of the Party Working Committee of and Executive Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of SCODA, Mohammad Saqif, economist and Secretary-General of the India China Economic and Cultural Council, Sun Zhuangzhi, Director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, diplomatic envoys of Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other countries, and more than 100 experts from well-known think tanks, mainstream media and youth representatives from India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and other SCO countries attended the event online or offline.
Gao Anming said that China International Publishing Group would like to continue to deepen the cooperation with media, think tanks, and cultural institutions of SCO countries, give full play to platforms such as SCO Media & Think Tank Forum, make SCO's voice heard, tell SCO stories and spread SCO experiences, providing the "SCO wisdom" to enhance people's well-being and improve global governance, and contributing to the wellbeing of the peoples of SCO countries and the building of a closer SCO community with a shared future.
Zhang Xinzhu sincerely invited friends from Chinese and foreign media and think tanks to deeply understand and actively participate in the vivid practice of local economic and trade cooperation in SCODA, and capture the experience and cases of SCODA's promotion of SCO local economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges with their cameras and pens. In a bid to promote mutual benefit and win-win cooperation in economy and trade and strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, he hoped that the friends could tell SCO stories, spread SCO voice, and contribute SCO wisdom, so as to strengthen the consensus of SCO cooperation and make SCO more deeply rooted in the people's hearts.
Logvinov Grigory pointed out that, in order to further promote people-to-people exchanges among SCO countries, the countries should deepen cooperation in the field of media and establish a secure, just and open information space. At present, SCO member states are actively cooperating on social networks and other new media platforms, and establishing a mechanism for mutual following and forwarding to attract more fans.
Li Gang said that, since its inauguration, SCODA has been deeply engaged in the high-quality development of the Belt and Road, making all-out efforts in building the "four centers" of international logistics, modern trade, two-way investment cooperation, and the exchange and development of business, tourism and culture, and in the building of the China-SCO Institute of Economy and Trade, providing scenarios, modes and models for the multilateral and bilateral local economic and trade cooperation within the framework of SCO countries and Belt and Road countries.
Mohammad Saqif stressed that over the past decade, the Belt and Road Initiative has made great achievements, proving the power of openness, inclusiveness, multilateralism and high-quality cooperation. Entering its second decade, the SCO should give full play to its unique advantages and jointly build an even closer community with a shared future for mankind by strengthening policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation and people-to-people exchanges.
Sun Zhuangzhi pointed out that the SCO community with a shared future can be regarded as the practice of the community with a shared future for mankind at the regional level, and is an objective process for countries within the region to jointly improve multilateral mechanisms and cooperation modes by constantly expanding practical cooperation areas.
During the forum, the unveiling ceremony of SCO Countries Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Base was held.
The framework agreement on strengthening media cooperation among the SCO countries was signed by six media and related organizations, including Industrial Daily of Kazakhstan, "Kazakhstan Today" news agency, the Communication Center for Central and Eastern Europe and South-Central Asia of CIPG (China Pictorial), the Administrative Committee of SCODA, the "Kabal" state news agency of Kyrgyzstan and Daily Mail of Pakistan.
In his concluding remarks, Jiang Yonggang said that at a new starting point, the SCO should adhere to the principle of unity, pragmatism and win-win cooperation, safeguard the stability and long-term development of SCO, promote the building of an SCO community with a shared future, and advance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations in the region. Media and think tanks should make full use of the new platform to promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning among SCO countries.