Putin, accompanied by a delegation of officials and business figures, is in Beijing for what Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov described as an “absolutely unprecedented” trip in China.
In a declaration released after the summit, leaders of the 10 member states reiterated their “opposition to resolving international and regional hotspot issues through bloc-based and confrontational thinking”.
In what appeared to be a response to US President Donald Trump’s trade policy, the SCO members also reaffirmed a commitment to safeguard an “open, transparent, inclusive, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system”.
“Member states oppose unilateral coercive measures, including economic measures that violate the UN Charter and other norms of international law, as well as WTO principles and rules,” the declaration said.
Many of the members of the SCO – Eurasian political, economic and security bloc formed in 2001 – are facing blanket sanctions and punitive tariffs from the US.
