The 18^th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit is going to be held in Qingdao, China on June 9-10. As reported by the Russian news agency Izvestia, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to launch a state visit to China before the summit and experience a trip on China’s high speed railway.

Confirmed by Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary for the President of Russia, Putin will start his state visit to China on June 8, and during the visit he will inspect China’s high speed railway and also take a high speed train from Beijing to Tianjin.

After that, Putin will attend the SCO Summit. On the eve of Putin’s visit, Andrey Denisov, the Russian ambassador to China, said in an interview that this visit to China is of great importance, and that the leaders of the two countries will have a broad and in-depth discussion over bilateral relations and other international issues.

Δ?From June 8-9, 2017, the 17th?Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Heads of State Council Meeting?was held in Astana, capital of kazakhstan. The meeting officially granted India and Pakistan membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Putin will Explain the Preparations for the World Cup

Putin’s state visit to China is a grand bilateral activity. It is also the first meeting between Putin and Xi Jinping since they were re-elected as presidents of Russia and China, Denisov added.

Since 2013, when Xi Jinping was first elected as the president of the CPC, around 25 meetings have been held between Xi and Putin. Denisov stated that the leaders of both countries will discuss cooperation in several fields including policy, trade and the economy, investment and people-to-people exchanges.

?“President Putin will explain the preparations for the World Cup to President Xi, as we know that president Xi loves football. After that, the two leaders will leave Beijing for Qingdao,” Denisov said.

Δ?On November 10, 2017, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam.

Wishing the Summit a Great Success

With India and Pakistan joining the SCO in 2017, the organization now has 8 members. The 18^th SCO Summit is the first summit since the expansion, with all members gathering in Qingdao to carry out practical talks and agree on cooperation concerning security cooperation and other issues.

Denisov told the press that this SCO summit will discuss issues including environmental protection and cooperation between youth, and will further reinforce the value of the summits. He wished the event a great success.

It is worthy of note that the Qingdao Summit sees the summit return to its birthplace – China – for the first time since the Beijing Summit in 2012.

Talking about the host city, Qingdao, Denisov said that he has been working in China for many years, and among all the places he has been to, Qingdao is one of his favorite places, a green city.

After the SCO Astana summit in June, 2017, China officially took on the rotating post of presidency. President Xi has made an earnest and solemn commitment to its member countries that “China will make every effort to fulfill the task and work with all other parties to give our people a greater sense of ownership and usher in an even brighter future for the SCO.”

China has been devoting considerable attention to its duties as rotating president of the SCO, and holding a variety of activities to respond in full to the demands of the role, said Denisov.

“In addition to this summit, dozens of activities, including ministerial and vice-ministerial meetings, will be held over the year.”

Reporter: Ning Jing, Xie Wen

Photographer: Xie Wen

Editor: Nan Zheng