A ceremony was held at the SCO Secretariat on 26 August 2020 to deliver China's humanitarian aid to the pupils of the secondary general education school at the Russian Embassy and the Pakistan Embassy College in Beijing.
The event was attended by SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov, General Secretary of China's SCO Committee on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation Zheng Wei, Head of the Shenzhen E-Commerce Association and CEO of the Shenzhen Century Health Technology He Jiaolian and Board Chairman of Shenzhen Bao Ruisi Technology Huang Fucai, Russian and Pakistani permanent representatives at the SCO Secretariat as well as school heads.
Vladimir Norov thanked the leadership of China's SCO Committee on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation and Chinese companies for their assistance to SCO countries in the battle against COVID-19. He pointed out that the positive changes in many SCO countries were brought about thanks to the joint international and individual national measures plus a large-scale provision of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The SCO Secretary-General added that the novel coronavirus pandemic had directly affected education. Schools in the SCO countries had had to suspend classes and were obliged have to move to remote education options, which proved to be exceptionally effective. At the same time, the new academic year has begun with school attendance in several of the SCO countries. Vladimir Norov noted the importance of real-life communications and studying in a team, which is extremely important for the development of personality and world outlook.
Ms Zheng Wei, General Secretary of China's SCO Committee on Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, thanked Vladimir Norov for all the assistance. She noted the SCO Secretariat's contribution to promoting understanding and consolidation among nations, confidence in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and mutually beneficial cooperation within the SCO framework.
The Committee head also spoke about the importance of helping children: "The SCO is a large family whose member states love children and take great care of their education." She added that the delivery of assistance was proof of friendship among the SCO states. Ms Zheng Wei wished the pupils every success and a good academic year. She also expressed readiness to support children from the SCO countries and to help protect public health in the organisation.
Directors of the Russian and Pakistani schools, Alexei Ushakov and Shazia Amjad, thanked the SCO Secretariat and China's SCO Committee for their assistance and updated the audience on the history of their schools and how they had functioned during the pandemic.