Chinese President Xi Jinping advanced Monday his vision for a new global security and economic order centered on the "Global South," directly challenging the U.S. during a summit attended by the leaders of Russia and India.
"We must continue to take a clear stand against hegemonism and power politics, and practise true multilateralism," Xi said, in a thinly veiled swipe at the U.S. and President Donald Trump's tariff policies.
"Global governance has reached a new crossroads," he added.
Xi was hosting more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries at a summit in the Chinese port city of Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a China-backed initiative given renewed impetus by the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In an image designed to convey a mood of solidarity, Putin and Modi were shown holding hands as they walked jovially toward Xi before the summit opened. The three men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, laughing and surrounded by interpreters.
"It's hard to tell if the scene was choreographed or improvised, but it doesn't really matter," wrote Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project, a research agency.
"If the U.S. president and his acolytes thought they could use tariffs to pressure China, India, or Russia into submission, that (encounter) says otherwise."
After the summit, Modi shared a ride with Putin in the Russian leader’s armored Aurus limousine en route to their bilateral meeting.
"Conversations with him are always insightful," Modi wrote on X. At the bilateral meeting, Putin addressed Modi in Russian as "Dear Mr Prime Minister, dear friend."
China and India are the biggest buyers of crude oil from Russia, the world's second-largest exporter. Trump has imposed additional tariffs on India over the purchases, but not on China.
Little known outside the region, the Beijing-headquartered SCO was formed more than two decades ago as a regional security bloc. China, Russia and four Central Asian states are founding members. India joined in 2017.
Xi did not set out any concrete measures in what he called his "Global Governance Initiative" – the latest in a series of policy frameworks from Beijing geared to promoting China's leadership and challenging the U.S.-dominated international organizations that took shape after World War II.
Earlier, Xi also pushed for what he described as more inclusive economic globalization amid the upheaval caused by Trump's tariff policies, touting the SCO's "mega-scale market" and economic opportunity.
Putin, whose country has forged even closer economic and security ties with China amid the fallout from the Ukraine war, said the SCO had revived "genuine multilateralism," with national currencies increasingly used in mutual settlements.
"This, in turn, lays the political and socio-economic groundwork for the formation of a new system of stability and security in Eurasia," Putin said.
"This security system, unlike Euro-centric and Euro-Atlantic models, would genuinely consider the interests of a broad range of countries, be truly balanced, and would not allow one country to ensure its own security at the expense of others."
Xi called for the creation of a new SCO development bank, in what would be a major step towards the bloc's long-held aspiration of developing an alternative payment system that circumvents the U.S. dollar and the power of U.S. sanctions.
Beijing will provide 2 billion yuan ($280 million) of free aid to member states this year and a further 10 billion yuan of loans to an SCO banking consortium.
China will also build an artificial intelligence cooperation center for SCO nations, which are also invited to participate in China's lunar research station, Xi added.
Beijing has used the summit as an opportunity to mend ties with New Delhi. Modi, visiting China for the first time in seven years and Xi agreed on Sunday their countries are development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to improve trade.
Separately, Xi will preside over a massive military parade Wednesday in Beijing, where he is expected to be joined by Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
That parade – to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II – will feature China's latest military technology in a show of force that analysts say will aim to intimidate and deter potential rivals.
