On September 10, 2026, at the invitation of the Beijing Education Commission, SCO Deputy Secretary General Sohail Khan took part in the opening ceremony of the Basic Education Cooperation Center “China–Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.” The event was held as part of the “Educational Services” exhibition at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).
The initiative to establish the Center was announced by the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping at the SCO summit on September 1, 2026, in Bishkek.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Minister of Education of the PRC Ren Youqun, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Committee of the CPC of Beijing, Secretary of the Working Committee on Education Yu Yingjie, representatives of the embassies of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, and other officials.
Addressing the participants, the Deputy Minister of Education of the PRC noted the significance of the initiative put forward by the President of the PRC, Xi Jinping, to establish the China‑SCO Basic Education Cooperation Center. He emphasized that the Center is intended to become a new area of humanitarian cooperation within the Organization, which will help expand ties between member states in the field of education. The main focus of the new institute will be on exchanges between educational institutions, improving the qualifications of teachers, humanitarian cooperation among young people, the use of artificial intelligence, and the exchange of best practices.