On 2 November 2020, the SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov had a meeting with Rector of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Professor Liu Xiaohong, on the sidelines of the forum "SCO opportunities and challenges during COVID-19."
They discussed the intensification of interaction between the SCO Secretariat and the university in order to promote cooperation between the SCO member states in legal affairs and international law.
Mr Norov informed the professor about the SCO's activities in the sphere of international law, practices of developing and agreeing multilateral agreements and treaties and the operation of the organisation's mechanisms: meetings of justice ministers, supreme courts and expert working groups on legal issues.
The Secretary-General noted that there are areas of cooperation between the SCO member states that require a scientific and expert approach in agreeing multilateral documents. In this context, he expressed the SCO Secretariat's interest in cooperating with the university's centres that deal with topics of international law.
Liu Xiaohong expressed her gratitude for the SCO delegation's participation in the forum and informed Mr Norov about the Shanghai university's activities, history, the stages of its development and its educational areas.
The rector said that the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law was working on establishing a SCO Association of Institutions of Higher Education specialising in legal matters and international law. In this context, she asked the SCO Secretary-General to help to institutionalise this proposal.
She also suggested examining the possibility of organising internships for the university's students at the SCO Secretariat so that they could acquire practical skills in the sphere of international law.
The Secretary-General assured her of his readiness to promote the implementation of these proposals. They agreed to appoint employees to maintain permanent contacts.
The Shanghai University of Political Science and Law is a state research university in Shanghai, China, established in 1984.
The university has faculties of law, economic law (the Silk Road Lawyer School), international law, criminal law, police, economics and management, social management, international relations and state governance, literature and mass media, foreign languages, and intercultural communications.
The total number of students is 10,600.
The university has established international exchanges with institutions in the US, France, Japan and Hong Kong.