BEIJING: China’s Pres­ident Xi Jinping will host world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Mo­­di, from Sunday for a summit before a huge military parade as he seeks to showcase a non-Western style of regional collaboration.

The Shanghai Coop­e­ra­tion Organisation (SCO) sum­­mit will be held on Sun­­day and Monday, days before the military parade in nearby Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, which North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will attend.

China and Russia have used the organisation — som­­­­­etimes touted as a counter to the Nato military alliance — to deepen ties with Central Asian states.

As China’s claim over Tai­­wan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have seen them clash with the US and Europe, analysts say the SCO is one forum whe­re they are trying to win influence.

Hosting so many leaders gives Beijing a chance to “demonstrate convening power”, said Lizzi Lee from the Asia Society. But substantial outco­mes are not expected, she added, as the summit wo­­­uld be more about optics and agenda-setting.

“The SCO runs by consensus, and when you ha­­­­­­­ve countries deeply div­i­­­­ded on core issues, like Pakistan and India, or Ch­­ina and India, in the same room, that naturally limits ambition,” Lee said.

Beijing wants to show it can bring diverse leaders together and reinforce the idea that global governa­nce is “not Western-dom­i­n­ated”, she added.

Assistant Foreign Min­ister Liu Bin said the summit would bring stability in the face of “hegemonism and power politics”, a veiled reference to the United States.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025