Chinese premier arrives in S. Petersburg for SCO prime ministers' meeting

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived here Sunday afternoon to attend the 10th meeting of prime ministers of the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The meeting, scheduled for Nov. 7, will lay a solid foundation for SCO cooperation in the next decade and will be significant for promoting the healthy and stable development of the organization as well as the region in general. The prime ministers will hold a smaller group meeting before joining an expanded discussion with all participants. Agreement-signing ceremonies and joint press conferences are also on the agenda. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping told a news briefing that Wen and leaders from the SCO member states will review the organization's development and cooperation over the past year, thoroughly analyze the current international and regional situation, and make working plans for the SCO's next phase of development, while taking the consensus reached at the Astana Summit in June into consideration. The senior diplomat mentioned three specific goals for the meeting, which include issuing a joint communique regarding the economic situation of the SCO and the world, creating plans for future work based on a summary of the organization's cooperative efforts thus far, and promoting economic and trade cooperation. The SCO has been developing in areas of security, economy and culture over the past decade and has seen fruitful results in enhancing mutual trust and cooperation among member states. The bloc, founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The six member states cover an area of over 30 million square km, or about three-fifths of Eurasia, with a population of some 1.525 billion. The organization has become a pillar in safeguarding security, strengthening economic cooperation and boosting cultural exchanges in the region. Enditem