The opening ceremony of the SCO People's Diplomacy Forum held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, on 3 June 2021 was attended by Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Shen Yueyue, First Deputy Foreign Minister of China Le Yucheng, Communist Party Secretary of Hubei Ying Yong, SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov and ambassadors of SCO countries.
During her opening remarks, Ms Shen Yueyue read out Xi Jinping's address to the forum participants. The President of China noted that the forum would become a platform for strengthening mutual understanding and make a constructive contribution to the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Deputy Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Ms Shen Yueyue pointed out that over the past 20 years the SCO member states had strengthened the Shanghai Spirit and provided an example of a new type of international relations. She added that all countries should apply their efforts and attention to promoting unity and cooperation and serve the interests of joint development, civilisational dialogue and stronger neighbourliness and friendship.
Communist Party Secretary of Hubei Ying Yong pointed out that the scale of the forum was evidence of China's victory over the coronavirus. The people of Hubei managed to arrest the COVID-19 outbreak within a matter of three months, not a single new case had been reported in Wuhan for over a year now, and the economy has recovered to 95 percent of last year's level.
When speaking about the SCO's activities over the past 20 years, Mr Ying Yong emphasised the validity and vitality of the Shanghai Spirit which constitutes the ideological and political basis of the SCO.
First Deputy Foreign Minister of China Le Yucheng praised people's diplomacy as a pillar and driver of interstate relations. He said that the SCO is a big family whose members can always find a common language to strengthen the foundation for expanding cooperation between their nations.
SCO Secretary-General Vladimir Norov noted in his opening remarks that barely a year ago Wuhan and the Hubei province as a whole were the first to be hit by the ruthless coronavirus infection. In this connection, he expressed gratitude and respect to the provincial and municipal governments and Wuhan and Hubei residents, who made huge sacrifices to stop the spread of the disease and subsequently eliminate it, enabling everyone to feel safe and at ease there.
Vladimir Norov said that people's diplomacy is an integral part of interstate relations in the bilateral and multilateral formats. It is also the main method for expanding mutual knowledge among various nations and for better understanding each other's culture, history, traditions and thinking, which helps promote mutual trust and sympathy at the people-to-people level. Politics and the economy provide the foundation for normal, healthy relations among states, but it is people's diplomacy that creates the material fabric of true friendship.
"The twenty years since the SCO's inception is a short period of time from the historical perspective. But if we judge it by its achievements, it may seem that time has been compressed, that each month of the past two decades equalled one year," he said. "However, the main achievement of the SCO is that the Shanghai Spirit, which is its moral and spiritual bond, the spirit of full equality, mutual respect and advantage, the spirit of respect for the diversity of cultures and for joint development has become the decisive factor in all areas of partner relations within the framework of the SCO."
The SCO People's Diplomacy Forum was attended by over 500 people, including members of the diplomatic corps accredited in China, representatives of international organisations and NGOs, academics, journalists and students.
The forum's programme included Yoga and Tai Chi demonstrations and an exhibition of children's crafts in the SCO House.