On 24-26 October 2018, Beijing hosted the 8th Xiangshan Security and Defence Forum.
The Forum involved over 500 delegates, including defence ministers and heads of defence agencies, scientists and leading security experts from 67 countries, as well as representatives of international organisations and associations, such as the UN, ASEAN, NATO, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the European Union and the African Union.
Deputy SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Akkoshkarov also took part in the forum's work.
Forum participants focused on forging a new type of partnership, based on equality and mutual trust. They discussed topical issues of international security, threats, ways to combat the global problem of terrorism, security cooperation on the high seas and UN peacekeeping activities during plenary meetings and thematic sessions. And they also considered Northeast Asia security issues, the Middle East peace settlement, greater confidence-building measures for the Asia-Pacific region and the creation of artificial intelligence during hostilities.
The Xiangshan Forum is an important platform for high-level dialogue on Asia Pacific security and defence issues. The event is customarily sponsored by the Chinese Association of Military Sciences and the China Institute of International Studies. Beijing has been hosting the Forum since 2006. The event, formerly known as the Xiangshan Forum, was renamed the Beijing Xiangshan Forum in 2018.