Xi seeks expanded role for organization with a development bank

President Xi Jinping gives a speech during the SCO, in Tianjin, yesterday

Chinese President Xi Jinping said China would accelerate the creation of an SCO development bank yesterday at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin, as he seeks to expand the organization’s influence and scope.

“Currently, as the global situation becomes more complex and turbulent, member states are facing more arduous safety and development responsibilities,” Xi said in opening remarks to the forum. He pledged $1.4 billion in loans in the next three years for SCO members. They are not specifically designated for the new development bank, for which no timeline has been released.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were among the leaders of a couple of dozen nations meeting as part of the SCO.

With the addition of the bank and an emphasis on providing loans, Xi is attempting to expand the scope of the organization.

“He wants to provide an alternate world order, because the U.S.-led world order is very much in decline. This is the main narrative,” said Alfred Wu, a professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Xi also said states should “oppose the Cold War mentality, bloc-based confrontation and bullying, and safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core” while “advocating for an equal and orderly multipolar world, an inclusive economic globalization, and promote the building of a more just and reasonable global governance system.”

Xi’s remarks were consistent with China’s past comments. Opposition to a Cold War mentality is a reference to the America’s tough approach to China, as well as its withdrawal of funding from some U.N. agencies. But at this moment in time, China’s consistency is the message, Wu said. HUIZHONG WU, TIANJIN, MDT/AP