Xi promises £1bn in loans as China pushes creation of SCO development bank

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would accelerate the creation of an SCO development bank on Monday at the summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation in Tianjin, as he seeks to expand the organisation’s influence and scope.

“Currently, as the global situation becomes more complex and turbulent, member states are facing more arduous safety and development responsibilities,” Mr Xi said in opening remarks to the forum.

He pledged 1.4 billion US dollars (£1 billion) in loans in the next three years for SCO members. They are not specifically designated for the new development bank, for which no timeline has been released.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the leaders of a couple of dozen nations meeting as part of the SCO.

The group, originally seen as a foil to US influence in central Asia, has grown in size and influence over the years, but has remained largely a security forum.

With the addition of the bank and an emphasis on providing loans, Mr Xi is attempting to expand the scope of the organisation.

While China is eager for the SCO to take a larger role on the global stage, it remains to be seen how effective the organisation will be.

Its focus in the past has been on propping up the security initiatives of its member states.

hina said the SCO is effective in combating what it refers to as the three forces: terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Those threats are what Beijing cited after it swept more than one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other largely Muslim minorities into camps, prisons, and other detention facilities in 2018.

“Their anti-terrorism exercises are more about countering threats to authoritarian regimes rather than countering terrorism in its own right,” said Derek Grossman, a professor of international relations at the University of Southern California.

Even if the SCO summit’s reach and influence is ultimately limited, one thing is clear, Prof Grossman said: “China is on a diplomatic uptick and the US is self-destructing.”