Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers his opening remarks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin on Sept. 1, 2025.
Evelyn Cheng
TIANJIN, China — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to strengthen artificial intelligence cooperation, while rejecting what he called a “Cold War mentality.”
Xi was speaking at the largest-ever summit of the SCO to date, with more than 20 foreign leaders gathered in Tianjin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting comes as China seeks to cast itself as a global peacemaker amid wars and rising trade tensions.
The summit takes place against a backdrop of persistent trade tensions with the United States, while the Russia-Ukraine war drags on and the Israel-Hamas conflict reverberates across the region.
Xi said that China has invested $84 billion in other SCO countries and would support 10,000 students’ participation in Beijing’s “Luban” vocational education program. He added that the SCO gathering presents an opportunity to chart a new phase of high-quality development and cooperation.
It remains unclear whether the SCO summit will pave the way for any breakthroughs in easing tensions. Xi is expected to meet with Putin this week, with the Russian leader scheduled to stay in China for a military parade in Beijing to commemorate 80 years since the end of World War II.
Over the last two days, Xi has met with at least 10 visiting leaders — including Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet — who are in town for the SCO summit.
Xi met Modi Saturday in Tianjin, with both sides affirming the importance of being partners, not rivals, according to official readouts.
“A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion peoples on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries,” India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement following the meeting.
The summit is expected to release a joint statement at the conclusion of the two-day meeting Monday. China’s top diplomat Wang Yi is scheduled to hold a press conference Monday evening local time.
