On 15 May 2018, SCO Secretary-General Rashid Alimov met with representatives of leading Russian media outlets at the SCO Headquarters in Beijing. The meeting with TASS, Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, INTERFAX, the newspapers Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Izvestia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Trud and Parlamentskaya Gazeta, was held during preparations for the 9-10 June 2018 meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State.
Mr Alimov also had a major exclusive video interview with the All-Russian State Television and Radio Corporation (VGTRK).
While talking with journalists, Mr Alimov discussed key aspects of diverse intra-SCO cooperation, the Organisation's current status and also prospects for its future development in the context of the upcoming meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State in Qingdao.
"The upcoming summit will be a historic event because it will take place in the Eurasian Eight format for the first time, and its decisions will prove crucial for the short-term development of the vast Eurasian region," Mr Alimov noted.
"Today, the SCO has acquired a global profile because it unites almost 50 percent of the world's population in the immense Eurasian region," he added.
Mr Alimov told journalists about preparations for the SCO summit and shared his expectations for the upcoming meeting of SCO member-states' leaders in Qingdao.
In early June, Mr Alimov will meet with representatives of leading Chinese media outlets during a scheduled information campaign to cover the SCO summit in Qingdao.