TIANJIN, 1 September 2025 – At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, President Xi Jinping issued a pointed message: under increasing pressure from U.S. sanctions and punitive tariffs, SCO members must unite against rising “hegemonic bullying.” Speaking to heads of state in Tianjin, Xi urged the bloc to deliver “real results” by strengthening economic and security cooperation. A key proposal was the expedited launch of an SCO development bank to underpin resilience and regional autonomy.
Xi further highlighted the SCO’s evolution over 24 years into the world’s largest regional grouping—representing nearly half of Earth’s population and a quarter of its global GDP—calling for its role to expand from security coordination to economic institution-building and multilateral governance.
Strategic Analysis
In facing U.S. sanctions that target many SCO members—from Russia and Iran to China and India—Beijing is repositioning the bloc as a strategic shield. The proposed development bank signals a leap beyond dialogue toward tangible economic architectures designed to circumvent Western-dominated financial systems.
For Southeast Asia—where economies closely track global supply chains and investment flows—this emergence of SCO-backed institutions presents both opportunity and complexity. ASEAN nations may find alternative platforms for connectivity, credit, and infrastructure funding, while maintaining engagement with Western-led economic networks.
Xi’s speech solidifies the SCO’s rebranding from a primarily security alliance to an influential multilateral force—a shift that recalibrates Asia’s geopolitical balance in favor of a multipolar structure grounded in shared sovereignty and economic self-reliance.
