Xi vows more investments to boost China-led security bloc

[TIANJIN]  President Xi Jinping said his country will increase investments and loans to partners while outlining a plan to bolster a China- and Russia-led security bloc and boost Beijing’s global clout.

China will provide 2 billion yuan (S$359.9 million) in grants to member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) this year and issue an additional 10 billion yuan in loans to lenders in the group’s interbank consortium over the next three years, Xi said on Monday (Sept 1) at the SCO summit.

“We should make the pie of cooperation bigger, and fully utilise the endowment of every country so that we can fulfill our responsibility for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region,” Xi told world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who are assembled in the Chinese port city of Tianjin.

The event gathers Xi’s closest international allies, and is one of the landmark diplomatic summits of his more than decade-long rule. It comes at a time of heightened global tensions as Trump tariffs disrupt international trade flows and regional wars continue to flare. 

Without naming any country, Xi called on the group to “oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc confrontation and bullying practices” – a thinly-veiled reference to what Beijing sees as the US’ strong-arm tactics in the trade war.

Xi said the group should set up an SCO Development Bank “as soon as possible,” an institution Beijing has pushed to establish since as early as 2010. He also announced plans to implement 100 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects in member states and expand educational opportunities, including doubling SCO-specific scholarships.

While the amounts pale in comparison with the US$50 billion financial support Xi pledged for Africa last year, the promised grants and loans represent a step-up from what was previously Beijing’s “largely rhetorical” backing for the group, according to Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project.

“This is all indicative of Xi’s drive to create a parallel international governance architecture outside of the US-European-led international order,” he said.

The lineup of global leaders – which includes Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif – suggests there is potential to break new ground. The summit offers Putin a chance to talk with Xi and Modi directly about the outcome of his meeting in Alaska with Trump and the prospect of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine.

A bilateral meeting between Xi and Modi on Sunday saw the two leaders pledge to rebuild ties and announce the resumption of direct flights. Modi is making his first trip to China in seven years as both Beijing and New Delhi face steep tariffs from Washington. 

Initially seen in the West as an eastern counterweight to Nato, the SCO bloc has expanded by adding new members that are either far removed from its original focus on Central Asia or, as in the case of India and Pakistan, are themselves embroiled in strife.

The SCO has nearly doubled in membership since being founded in 2001 by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Counting observers and dialogue partners such as Mongolia and Saudi Arabia, that number expands to 26 nations, with a roster of countries including Myanmar and Turkey seeking full membership. BLOOMBERG