 |
China pursued the fostering of good-neighborly friendship and cooperation between member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and pushing forward the development of the Organisation's practical cooperation and building of mechanisms. In July 2005, President Hu Jintao delivered an important speech at the fifth SCO Summit in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. Heads of state of the six member nations negotiated and worked out concrete plans for deeper cooperation in regional security and economy, and exchanged views on important international and regional issues. They signed the Declaration of Heads of SCO Member States, and resolved to press on with specific steps in strengthening unity, fighting terrorism through concerted efforts and economic development; observer status was granted to Pakistan, Iran and India in order to extend the influence of SCO to the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, making SCO the organization with the greatest geographical coverage on the Eurasian continent. In October, Premier Wen Jiabao attended the SCO prime ministerial meeting in Moscow.
