The SCO summit in China’s Tianjin is over and the final declaration of the summit unveils a number of crucial trajectories in the development of this regional organization. Perhaps the most important implication of the summit in China is the further transformation of the SCO into an economic bloc that becomes the focal point of the economic integration impulses of the Global South in Eurasia. A key decision in this respect is the establishment of the SCO development bank that is expected to work closely together with other financial institutions of Eurasia, most notably the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB). Our vision of greater alignment in the evolution of the platforms of the Global South, most notably the SCO and BRICS, has been largely vindicated based on the main decisions unveiled at the SCO summit.
As we have noted in our recent publication, the dynamics in the development of the SCO regional bloc is increasingly aligned with that of BRICS[1]. A key synchronicity in the operation of both blocs is that they are in expansion mode, with an increasing correlation in membership and outreach formats. In particular, we note that the SCO+ format conducted by China this year was similar to the BRICS+ outreach exercise in 2022 – both included a record number of economies outside of the blocs’ core and also featured representatives from the key regional organizations. In the case of this year’s SCO summit, the SCO+ outreach exercise featured representatives of the Eurasian Economic Union and ASEAN[2] – thus pointing to the continued progression of the Global South towards building a SCO-EAEU-ASEAN cooperative triangle in Eurasia.
Another point of greater alignment between the BRICS and the SCO was the decision at the summit to combine the status of “observer” and “dialogue partner” into a single status of an “SCO partner” – in line with the current modalities adopted within BRICS, whereby together with core economies of the bloc there is a partnership belt. As we have pointed out in our earlier publications, the BRICS and the SCO now are broadly commensurate in terms of the size of the core and the partnership circle (the SCO currently has a somewhat wider circle of partner economies), with the summit approving Laos as a dialogue partner of the SCO regional bloc.
Most importantly, however, in line with our assessment this year[3] and calls in the preceding years[4], the SCO members agreed to establish an SCO development bank. The creation of this development institution expands the array of financing vehicles for economic development in Eurasia and makes the emergence of a platform for the regional development banks of Eurasia and the Global South more likely in the coming years. The SCO development bank is likely to work with regional institutions such as the Eurasian Development Bank in financing connectivity/infrastructure projects, with further cooperation and co-financing of such projects likely to come from the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). For more on the potential modalities of the SCO Development Bank see our recent publication: BRICS+ Analytics. “A new regional development bank for Eurasia”. July 22, 2025[5].
In the end, the SCO summit in Tianjin marks a key watershed in the development of the SCO platform and the broader economic cooperation efforts of the Global South economies in Eurasia. It advances further the institutionalization of the Global South and SCO economic cooperation via the establishment of the SCO bank. It also further strengthens the positive impulses of closer economic ties between the two largest BRICS economies, namely India and China – as we have noted in the past, a closer economic partnership between China and India is the best-case scenario for the future of BRICS and the Global South[6]. Perhaps most importantly, the summit sends a broader message to the global community about the principles of a more inclusive and multipolar global governance[7] as reflected in the statement by China’s leader Xi Jinping. These principles may provide the guidance and the momentum for a revitalized economic globalization effort in which the Global South is to play a key role[8].
[1] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/forging-greater-alignment-between-brics-and-the-sco/
[2] https://asean.org/secretary-general-of-asean-participates-in-the-sco-plus-meeting-2025-in-tianjin-china/
[3] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/a-new-regional-development-bank-for-eurasia/
[4] https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-07-01/SCO-to-drive-economic-cooperation-of-developing-countries-in-Eurasia-1uSqjifTTYA/p.html
[5] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/a-new-regional-development-bank-for-eurasia/
[6] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/a-best-case-scenario-for-the-global-south/
[7] https://english.news.cn/20250901/af51481fbbd0452781e81f7c6ebd3d33/c.html
[8] https://brics-plus-analytics.org/relaunching-globalization-a-paradigm-shift-for-brics/
Yaroslav Lissovolik, Founder, BRICS+ Analytics
Image by Zhao Zishuo via Xinhua