On 11 February 2022, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming had a meeting with Charge D'Affaires Ad Interim of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdullah Tawlah. They conducted an interested exchange of opinions in the context of the September 2021 decision by the SCO Heads of State Council to grant dialogue partner status to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The SCO Secretary-General reaffirmed the SCO Secretariat's readiness for close cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Beijing, in the interests of the successful completion of legal proceedings to formalise Saudi Arabia's status as the SCO's dialogue partner. He also briefed the guest on high-priority issues on the SCO's 2022 agenda during Uzbekistan's chairmanship of the organisation.
Abdullah Tawlah congratulated Zhang Ming on his appointment as SCO Secretary-General and noted that Saudi Arabia supported all aspects of the SCO's activities. He noted that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia perceived the SCO as an effective multi-role organisation that has brought various countries together to work in the name of joint development and combatting common challenges.