THE SCO ORGANIZATION — DOSSIER

SCO: Key Figures

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has 10 member states: Russia, Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Mongolia (since 2004) and Afghanistan (since 2012) hold observer status in the SCO. Fifteen states are dialogue partners, including Turkey (since 2012), Azerbaijan and Armenia (since 2016), Egypt and Saudi Arabia (since 2022), the UAE (since 2023), and others.

At the summit in Tianjin, China, on September 1, 2025, the member states decided to merge the "observer" and "dialogue partner" statuses into a single status of "SCO partner." On July 24, 2026, in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, following a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that the organization's countries would decide to unify the categories of SCO dialogue partners and observers. Seventeen countries will be given the unified status of SCO partners.

The SCO's territory covers about 36 million square kilometers, or roughly 65% of the Eurasian landmass. According to the SCO Secretariat, its population totals more than 3.4 billion people.

The combined gross domestic product (in current prices) of the SCO member states reached $27.38 trillion in 2025, or 23.13% of the global total (for comparison: $30.77 trillion for the United States and $21.24 trillion for the EU; World Bank data).

History

On April 26, 1996, in Shanghai, China, the leaders of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan signed an agreement on building military confidence in the border area. On that basis, a political grouping known as the "Shanghai Five" was formed, whose main goal was to ensure stability along the borders of the former Soviet republics and China. On July 5, 2000, the organization was transformed into the Shanghai Forum. On June 14, 2001, at a summit in Shanghai, Uzbekistan joined the five-country grouping.

On June 15, 2001, the leaders of the six states adopted the Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. On June 7, 2002, the organization's founding document, the SCO Charter, was signed (it entered into force on September 19, 2003).

India and Pakistan joined the organization in 2017, Iran in 2023, and Belarus in 2024.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation holds observer status at the UN General Assembly (since 2004) and at the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; since 2025).

Goals, Objectives, and Areas of Cooperation

Under the SCO Charter, the alliance's goals are to ensure stability and security in the region, combat terrorism and extremism, and develop economic cooperation, energy partnerships, and scientific and cultural exchange. Priority areas include developing transport infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, the oil and gas sector, and agriculture, as well as the use of water resources, among others.

In their internal relations, the member states adhere to the principles of consensus, mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, respect for cultural diversity, and a commitment to joint development. In its external relations, the SCO proceeds from the principles of openness and non-alignment with blocs. The organization's activities are not directed against third countries.

Structure

Member states chair the SCO in rotation for a one-year term, concluding their chairmanship with a summit. The Kyrgyz Republic has held the organization's chairmanship since September 1, 2025.

The SCO's supreme body is the Council of Heads of State, which sets the organization's priorities and main areas of activity, decides questions of its internal structure and its engagement with other countries and international organizations, and considers pressing international issues.

The SCO Council of Heads of Government deals with issues relating to specific areas of cooperation, particularly economic ones.

The organization also has a Council of Foreign Ministers, a Meeting of Heads of Ministries and Agencies, and a Council of National Coordinators.

The permanent working body is the Secretariat, headquartered in Beijing, China. Kazakhstan's representative Nurlan Yermekbayev took office as SCO Secretary-General on January 1, 2025 (his term runs through December 31, 2027).

Russian and Chinese are the SCO's official and working languages.

Security Issues

When the organization was founded, combating terrorism in Central Asia was declared its main task. One of its earliest documents, the Shanghai Convention on Combating Terrorism, Separatism and Extremism (2001), established at the international level a definition of separatism and extremism as violent acts subject to criminal prosecution.

At the SCO summit in St. Petersburg on June 7, 2002, an agreement was signed establishing the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), whose Executive Committee is headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. RATS coordinates the fight against terrorism, extremism, and separatism — among other things, it maintains a unified database of international terrorist and other organizations and individuals, as well as a unified wanted list, helps train specialists and instructors for anti-terrorism units, and organizes anti-drug-trafficking operations, among other activities. Since January 1, 2025, the director of the SCO RATS Executive Committee has been Ularbek Sharsheev, the former director of the Border Service of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security.

SCO member states regularly hold joint counter-terrorism exercises, the largest of which is "Peace Mission" (held since 2003), and cooperate under a program to counter terrorism, separatism, and extremism.

SCO countries also combat illegal arms and drug trafficking, other forms of transnational crime, and illegal migration. For instance, at the summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025, agreements were signed on establishing an SCO Anti-Drug Center in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and a Universal Center for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of SCO Member States in Tashkent.

Information security occupies an important place in the organization's work. SCO member states are developing cooperation on internet oversight and jointly work to prevent its use for activities that undermine security and stability in the region.

Cooperation in the Economic and Financial Sphere

Economic cooperation is coordinated by the Business Council (established in 2006, bringing together representatives of the business community) and the SCO Interbank Consortium (2005, which arranges financing and banking services for investment projects).

The Energy Club, set up on Russia's initiative, has operated since 2014. It is a discussion platform for harmonizing SCO countries' energy strategies and developing proposals to strengthen energy security. The club brings together representatives of government bodies, major business, and information and analytical centers working in the energy sector.

On November 2, 2019, in Tashkent, the SCO Council of Heads of Government adopted a program for multilateral trade and economic cooperation through 2035. The document sets out priority tasks in trade and investment, banking and financial cooperation, transport and logistics, industry, agriculture, energy, customs, innovation, information technology, spatial development, interregional cooperation, tourism, ecology, and education.

At the summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025, decisions were adopted on establishing an SCO Development Bank to "strengthen support for cooperation among member states in the fields of security and the economy," as well as on approving the SCO development strategy through 2035.

Cooperation in the Humanitarian Sphere

In 2010, the SCO's network-based university began operating. It was set up as a network of existing universities in SCO member states and observer countries. Training is provided in priority areas of cultural, scientific-educational, and economic cooperation: regional studies, ecology, energy, IT, and nanotechnology.

In 2015, the International Youth Card (the SCO Youth Card) was developed, serving simultaneously as a payment card and an identity document. Among other things, it lets students at universities within the SCO University network claim discounts across the organization's member countries. The project was launched in May 2017 in Belgorod, as part of the second Youth Forum of SCO Countries' Universities.

Youth movements from the organization's member countries cooperate through the SCO Youth Council (since 2009). In May 2018, the first Women's Forum was held in Beijing, with its stated goal being "developing exchanges and cooperation among women within the SCO."

The organization also has the SCO Forum (2006), a public consultative and expert body created to assist and provide scholarly support for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's work, conduct joint research on pressing issues, and carry out other related activities.

SCO Budget

The organization's budget is set for a one-year calendar period, in US dollars. It is made up of annual share contributions from the SCO member states. Under the agreement on the procedure for forming and executing the budget, dated December 1, 2017 (as amended on October 16, 2024), the contribution shares are: Belarus 5.8%, India 5.9%, Iran 5.8%, Kazakhstan 15.2%, China 17.6%, Kyrgyzstan 7.6%, Pakistan 5.9%, Russia 17.6%, Tajikistan 6%, and Uzbekistan 12.6%. The size of these contribution shares can be changed at the proposal of one or more states, with the agreement of the other SCO members.

SCO Plus

The first meeting in the "SCO Plus" format took place on July 4, 2024, in Astana, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. According to Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian president on international affairs, this format was officially introduced for the first time. Previously, countries invited to SCO meetings had taken part in the organization's expanded sessions.

The theme of the 2024 event was "Strengthening Multilateral Dialogue — Pursuit of Sustainable Peace and Development." Taking part in the meeting were the leaders of SCO countries, the heads of SCO observer states and dialogue partners, and the heads of international organizations, including the UN, the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Islamic Organization for Food Security, the CSTO, the Organization of Economic Cooperation, CICA, and the CIS.

The second "SCO Plus" meeting was held as part of the organization's summit in Tianjin on August 31–September 1, 2025. Its theme was "Upholding Multilateralism, Ensuring Regional Security, and Promoting Sustainable Development." In addition to the leaders of SCO member states, the event was attended by the heads of a number of the organization's partner countries, as well as guests of the chairing country — the leaders of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkmenistan — along with the heads of the executive bodies of the UN, the CIS, ASEAN, the CSTO, and others.