Overview

• The two-day gathering in Tianjin runs August 31 to September 1 and has been described by China’s foreign ministry as the largest SCO summit to date.
• Leaders attending include Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Narendra Modi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prabowo Subianto, Anwar Ibrahim and Pham Minh Chinh, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also present.
• The SCO is increasingly used as a platform to explore alternatives to US-led approaches, though divergent member priorities continue to limit cohesive action.
• The bloc now counts 10 members—China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan—following recent expansions.
• Tianjin serves as a major industrial base and port about 120 kilometers from Beijing, and several leaders are expected to stay on to watch a September 3 military parade in the capital.