On 12 September 2019, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov met with Shanghai vice mayor Gong Dao'an.
During the meeting, they discussed issues related to the expansion of trade and economic cooperation between SCO cities and establishing cooperation in public security, city management and tourism.
The secretary-general noted that in 2001 the heads of the founding states signed a statement to establish the SCO in Shanghai, which became a fundamental event in the SCO's history, and which was reflected in its name among other things. In this context, the officials discussed the possibility of holding events to mark the 20th anniversary of the SCO in 2021.
Gong Dao'an praised the SCO's activities to improve regional security and stability. He noted that today Shanghai became an important economic, financial, scientific, technical and transport centre in China. "Our city is one of the safest," he added.
The vice mayor shared information on the measures taken to develop the tourism infrastructure, establish favourable conditions for visitors and use advanced smart technology to provide public security and to control road traffic.
Gong Dao'an also informed the secretary-general of the activities of the Centre for International Legal Training and Cooperation for the SCO Countries in Shanghai established at the initiative of President of China Xi Jinping at Shanghai Political and Legal University in 2014: "Over this period, the centre held 43 seminars attended by over 700 experts from the SCO states."
The officials discussed the possibility of holding an SCO Economic Conference and establishing a special SCO exhibition pavilion as part of the annual China International Import Expo in 2020.
Shanghai is a major Chinese city and an important economic, financial, trade, scientific, technical and transport hub with a population of over 24.2 million.
Last year Shanghai's GDP was $462 billion, with an increase of 6.6 percent. The concentration of high-tech companies is among the highest in China (over 9,200).