{
  "id": 4567882,
  "title": "Xi is in Bishkek for SCO summit. How does bloc fit China’s Eurasian strategy 25 years on?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/xi-is-in-bishkek-for-sco-summit-how-does-bloc-fit-chinas-eurasian-4567882",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-31T04:00:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3365768/xi-bishkek-sco-summit-how-does-bloc-fit-chinas-eurasian-strategy-25-years"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As the United States refocuses its strategic interests, Beijing's growing influence in Central Asia is drawing attention as Kyrgyzstan hosts the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this week. Scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, the SCO's 25th anniversary summit is expected to highlight whether the group can move beyond diplomatic signaling towards shared goals. The agenda includes regional security, connectivity, energy, and digital cooperation, while also addressing broader challenges such as Iran, Afghanistan, and food security. Last year, China became the largest trading partner of the SCO's five original member states, with bilateral trade reaching a historical high of US$106 billion. Analysts believe China's increasing presence in Central Asia is a response to shifting global dynamics, with the SCO serving as a crucial platform for Beijing to project power and build consensus. Beijing's top priority in the region is security, focusing on ensuring stability along its western border and broader regional security concerns. While trade figures reveal a significant expansion of commercial ties, analysts caution against overestimating the region's economic importance, emphasizing Central Asia's strategic value lies in its geographic location as a bridge between China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. Infrastructure projects, such as the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway, are crucial to this vision, connecting China with Central Asia and the wider world, despite security concerns along the route.",
  "summary": "Chinese President Xi Jinping is attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as the bloc celebrates its 25th anniversary. The two-day summit, themed \"25 years of the SCO: together for sustainable peace, development and prosperity,\" brings together leaders from Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian countries, and Belarus. According to Channel News Asia, Xi hailed a \"golden period\" in relations with Central Asian Kyrgyzstan as China deepens its influence in the historically Russia-dominated region.\n\nThe SCO summit is expected to focus on regional security, connectivity, energy, and digital cooperation, as well as address wider challenges including Iran, Afghanistan, and food security. China-Central Asia goods trade hit a record $106 billion last year, making Beijing the largest trading partner of the five Central Asian countries combined for the first time, reports Reuters Business via SCMP. The meetings also offer clues to Beijing's ambitions for a more multipolar Eurasia at a time of shifting regional power dynamics.\n\nLeaders attending the summit include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to Business Recorder, Sharif will assume the SCO's rotating chair for a one-year term and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with several visiting world leaders on the sidelines of the summit.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Reuters Business via SCMP",
        "title": "Xi is in Bishkek for SCO summit. How does bloc fit China’s Eurasian strategy 25 years on?",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/xi-is-in-bishkek-for-sco-summit-how-does-bloc-fit-chinas-eurasian",
        "published": "2026-08-31T04:00:13.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "Russia, China leaders to meet at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/russia-china-leaders-to-meet-at-shanghai-cooperation-organisation",
        "published": "2026-08-31T04:18:23.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}