This week, we take you to Tianjin, where the largest-ever Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit has just concluded. The gathering brought together leaders from across Central Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East — representing nearly half the world’s population — and delivered eight major outcomes, from launching an SCO Development Bank to setting up new cooperation platforms in green industry, digital economy, and security.

Far from being just symbolic, these moves signal China’s ambition to position the SCO as a serious platform for global governance outside the Western-led order. They also highlight Tianjin’s comeback as a hub for China’s outward-facing development model.

At a time when tariffs, trade wars, and geopolitical rivalries dominate headlines, China is offering a different script — building institutions, creating cross-border financing tools, and promoting inclusivity over confrontation. The SCO summit may not have the hard treaties critics demand, but its framework of long-term cooperation marks another step in Beijing’s effort to reshape how the Global South engages with the world.

Listen in as Xing Zheming unpacks what this summit means for China, for its neighbors, and for the global order in flux.

Weekly China Recap with Xing Zheming, powered by Taskforce Consultancy

Contact us via

zheming@taskforce-china.cn

zhibin.lang@taskforce-china.cn