By Li Yingqi, Huan Xiang, People’s Daily
According to statistics recently released by China’s General Administration of Customs, in the first seven months of this year, China’s total imports and exports with other Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) members reached 2.11 trillion yuan ($295.04 billion), marking a 3 percent increase year on year, a record high for the period.
As cooperation deepens across trade, investment, connectivity, and other fields, the SCO is charting a path of mutual benefit and shared prosperity, injecting strong momentum into regional development.
On the shores of Jiaozhou Bay in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong province, the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area (SCODA) bustles with activity. Recent examples include a truck laden with fresh fruits and vegetables departing Qingdao’s international road transport assembly center for Moscow (reaching its destination in under a week), and 388 new energy vehicles clearing customs at the SCO International Hub Port Automobile Trading Center before shipment to Dubai.
Such scenes vividly illustrate the SCODA’s role as a dynamic hub where people, goods, and commerce converge.
The demonstration area traces its origins to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s address at the 2018 SCO Qingdao Summit, where announced that the Chinese government supports building a demonstration area in Qingdao for China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation. Since its inception, the area has been exploring innovative models of local cooperation.
For Li Zhenye, deputy general manager of Qingdao Hongzhu Agricultural Machinery Co., Ltd., the platform has delivered tangible results. “We have participated in the SCO International Investment and Trade Expo for four consecutive years. It has helped us build lasting connections with customers from many SCO countries. In 2024, we hosted nearly 50 business delegations from SCO members, and exports to other SCO and Belt and Road partner countries now account for more than 80 percent of our total,” Li said.
According to Irfan Shahzad Takalvi, founder of the Eurasian Century Institute, a think tank in Islamabad, Pakistan, China has launched a series of cooperation platforms in recent years, facilitating the movement of goods, technology, and talent. These platforms have enabled SCO countries to share development experience, adopt mature technologies, and train professionals, promoting economic growth across the region,” he noted.
A recent demonstration of enhanced connectivity occurred on May 20, when a China-Central Asia freight train departed Tianjin Port for Xinjiang’s Horgo crossing. Carrying 50 containers from South Korea, it completed the journey in two weeks, reducing transit distance by 800 kilometers compared to traditional route.
Today, Tianjin Port connects with over 500 ports in more than 180 countries and regions and has also expanded rail cooperation with SCO member states such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus, making it a vital bridge between the SCO and global markets.
By opening more efficient regional logistics corridors, strengthening resilient industrial and supply chains, and enhancing trade and investment cooperation, China and other SCO countries are steadily reaching new heights of practical economic engagement. In 2024, trade between China and SCO member states, observer states, and dialogue partners reached a record high of $890 billion, underscoring the dynamism and promising outlook of regional commerce.
The vibrancy of SCO economic and trade cooperation is equally evident at the Horgos International Border Cooperation Center on the China-Kazakhstan border. From Kazakh camel milk and Kyrgyz honey to Uzbek cherries and Tajik dried fruit, thousands of products from more than 40 countries fill the stalls of over 5,000 shops and 1,200 merchants. As the largest cross-border tourism and shopping zone in northwest China, it offers a vivid window into the flourishing economic cooperation between China and its SCO partners.
In the first seven months of this year, Horgos customs supervised 35,500 tons of goods with a total value of 3.65 billion yuan, representing year-on-year increases of 50.1 percent and 37.7 percent year on year, respectively. The center also handled 5.69 million cross-border travelers, a 66 percent increase over the same period last year.
Behind this vitality are streamlined and efficient customs services. At the road port of Horgos, 24-hour customs clearance ensures the daily departure of over 1,000 trucks bound for Central Asia and Europe. Simplified procedures have reduced clearance steps by 60 percent, boosted vehicle throughput by 80 percent, and cut overall business costs by 50 percent. The city of Horgos is accelerating the development of a national land port logistics hub, continuously improving port functionality and clearance efficiency.
“The one-stop inspection model and round-the-clock appointment-based clearance have further enhanced cross-border trade efficiency, creating a fast track for deeper economic cooperation between China and other SCO countries,” said Guo Ying, head of customs at the Horgos International Border Cooperation Center.
