Editor's Note: Keywords to Understand China: the Belt and Road Initiative is a selection of "China Keywords" entries included in an eponymous multilingual platform to help readers better understand China's B&R Initiative. It is one of the major projects implemented by the China International Publishing Group and the China Academy of Translation.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an inter-governmental organization comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001.
The SCO's mission is to build friendship and trust among member states, encourage effective cooperation in political, economic, trade, cultural and other areas, safeguard regional peace and stability, and promote a new international political and economic order that is fair and rational.
Between themselves the SCO members have developed the "Shanghai Spirit," which is based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity, and pursuit of common prosperity. Externally they follow the principle of openness and non-alignment, and their strategies and policies are not directed against any third party or any other region.
The top decision-making body of the SCO is the Council of Heads of State, which meets once a year to decide on major issues. Its Council of Heads of Government also meets once a year to discuss priorities and issues of multilateral cooperation. Its two permanent bodies are: the Secretariat in Beijing (China) and the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
Six states have observer status with the SCO: Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan, and there are six dialogue partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
China-ASEAN (10+1) cooperation mechanism
Established in 1997, the China-ASEAN (10+1) cooperation mechanism has played an important role in promoting closer political and economic ties between China and ASEAN members, and has become one of the major forums for regional cooperation.
China-ASEAN dialogue was launched in 1991. The first China-ASEAN (10+1) summit was convened in 1997 and announced the formation of the China-ASEAN partnership of good-neighborliness and mutual trust. The China-ASEAN Free Trade Area was created in January 2010, representing a milestone in China-ASEAN bilateral relations and initiating the process of China-ASEAN economic integration.
China was the first non-ASEAN country to join the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and establish a strategic partnership with ASEAN, and the first major country to build a free trade area with ASEAN.
Necessary platforms for dialogue have been in place to ensure successful and effective bilateral cooperation, including the ASEAN-China Summit, ministerial meetings, and working group meetings. The ASEAN-China Center is a permanent body for promoting bilateral cooperation.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is the highest-level mechanism for economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. With 21 member economies and three observers – ASEAN Secretariat, Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, and Pacific Islands Forum – it covers an extensive part of the world and wields significant influence.
The forum was formally established in November 1989 at a ministerial meeting in the Australian capital of Canberra, attended by Australia, the US, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, and the then six ASEAN countries.
As an economic forum, APEC focuses on global and regional economic issues such as trade and investment liberalization, regional economic integration, connectivity, economic structural reform and innovative development, global multilateral trade systems, economic and technological cooperation, and capacity of development.
Its primary goal is to safeguard the common interests of its member economies in the Asia-Pacific, increase their economic interdependence, create an open multilateral trade system, and reduce regional trade and investment barriers.
APEC operates at five institutional levels: meetings of economic leaders, ministerial meetings, meetings of senior officials, committees and working groups, and the Secretariat.
China hosted the 2001 and 2014 APEC economic leaders meetings in Shanghai and in Beijing respectively, and has played an active role in promoting free and open regional trade and investment and stimulating regional and global economic growth.
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