The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) security forum now bears “greater responsibility” for safeguarding regional peace and stability, as well as promoting the development and prosperity of its member states, Chinese President Xi Jinping told about 20 world leaders he hosted on Sunday evening.

World leaders from Central, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East are attending the summit in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin in a show of Global South solidarity.

The ongoing SCO summit shoulders the important mission of building consensus among all parties and stimulating momentum in cooperation, Xi was cited as telling a welcome banquet, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.

According to the Chinese news agency, Xi expressed confidence that with the concerted efforts of all parties, the summit will be a complete success and the SCO is certain to play an even bigger role and achieve more progress, making a greater contribution to boosting unity and cooperation among member states.

“The Tianjin summit is the largest-ever annual summit of the group. Member states are expected to adopt key documents, including the organisation’s development strategy for the next decade,” Xinhua reported.

“Xi told the guests at the banquet that as an open and inclusive city, Tianjin serves as a pioneering zone for China’s reform and opening-up, and hosting the summit here will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the sustainable development of the SCO.”

The Chinese president was also quoted as saying that the SCO has “become an important force in building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for humanity”.