On 5 November, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov spoke during the opening ceremony of a conference to present the "Chang'an" China-Europe Railway Express under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The event took place on the sidelines of the 3rd China International Import Expo.
Mr Norov noted that the SCO was the optimal venue for merging China's Belt and Road Initiative with other national economic development strategies in the Eurasian region.
According to the SCO Secretary-General, the Organisation is now attaching great significance to strengthening economic relations and expanding the volumes of mutual trade by modernising and building new facilities for the transport and communications infrastructure.
Mr Norov praised the "Chang'an" China-Europe Railway Express and said it was consonant with some initiatives of the SCO member states to establish new transport corridors linking Northeast, Central and South Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
It was noted that the cost-effective use of the vast SCO region's transit potentialities by conducting all types of international haulage, developing multi-modal trans-regional logistics centres and creating the required institutional foundation for merging infrastructure projects of the SCO member states could become a factor of their rapid economic growth and social development.
Launched in November 2013 from the historical city of Xian in Shaanxi Province, the "Chang'an" China-Europe Railway Express now includes 15 operational mainline routes and encompasses 45 states, including the SCO countries.
