On 25 January 2018, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov had a meeting with the Vice Mayor of the city of Qingdao, Liu Jianjun, at the SCO Secretariat.
During the talks, the Secretary-General noted that the Qingdao Summit was the culminating event of the Chinese Presidency of the SCO in 2018 and went down in the organisation's history as the first meeting of SCO leaders in the Shanghai Eight format.
"The leadership of the city of Qingdao has created excellent conditions for holding the summit. All the participants were impressed by the high level of hospitality and the provision of all the necessary conditions for the effective work of the Council of Heads of the SCO Member States," Norov said.
Vice Mayor of Qingdao Liu Jianjun congratulated the Secretary-General on taking office, and noted that the SCO Summit in Qingdao has opened up new prospects for the city. He cited some details about the plans to establish cooperation with the SCO countries as the pilot zone of China-SCO regional trade and economic cooperation.
The Vice-Mayor especially noted Qingdao's transport, infrastructure and industrial potential and expressed hope for the SCO Secretariat's support for establishing practical contacts and identifying mutually beneficial fields of cooperation between Qingdao and interested SCO countries.
Vladimir Norov noted significant transit opportunities for the SCO member states, as well as their interest in promoting their products on the Chinese market. "The active participation of all SCO countries in the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai in November 2018 was evidence of this," the Secretary-General summarised.
Following the meeting, an agreement was reached on holding presentations of the SCO member states' tourism and export opportunities in the pilot zone, and exchanging experience in logistics, tourism, manufacturing and digitalisation of key industries and services.
The meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere.