Between 23 and 26 July 2020, a delegation of the SCO Secretariat led by SCO Deputy Secretary-General Sherali Jonon visited Qingdao, Shandong Province, to discuss the further development of cooperation with the regional and city administration in the main spheres of SCO activities, including trade, economic ties, transport, logistics, education, couture and tourism.
The agenda included meetings with Deputy Mayor of Qingdao Xue Qingguo and deputy head of the Shinan district administration of Qingdao Cao Zhen, as well as talks with Zhao Zhongyuan, Director of Qingdao Aston Engineering Technology Transfer Co. Ltd., which is responsible, in part, for the creation of an SCO Technology Transfer Centre in Qingdao. A visit to the head office of Weidong Cloud Education Group included an exchange of views with Executive Vice-President Zhang Xiaobing on the development and implementation of cloud education programmes. The sides have agreed to maintain ties.
During talks between the SCO Secretariat delegation, the Chinese part of the SCO Business Council, the management of the Demonstration Zone for China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation, and representatives of the Qingdao authorities and business circles, the sides discussed the development of cooperation between the Demonstration Zone and the SCO member states in e-commerce and other types of trade, transport, logistics, education, science and technology, tourism, culture and agriculture, as well as customs and phytosanitary control. The management of the Demonstration Zone informed the participants about their plans to prepare and forward to the SCO Secretariat a plan for expanding cooperation between the Demonstration Zone and the SCO member states.
The SCO delegation also met with Chairman of the Demonstration Zone's Management Board Liu Jianjun and Director of Asia Division of the Shandong Foreign Affairs Office Ms Ji Caiyun. The sides discussed the implementation of the main Qingdao projects focused on the SCO countries, namely, the Demonstration Zone for China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation, the Eight Wonders of the SCO tourism project, and the initiative for the SCO Technology Transfer Centre advanced by Premier of the State Council of China Li Keqiang.