CNI News
1 Septeber 2025
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Acting President, Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission Senior General Min Aung Hlaing met and discussed Myanmar’s possible accession as a member state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Their meeting took place on August 30, 2025, at the Tianjin State Guest House in Tianjin, China.
President Xi Jinping outlined the conditions under which China would support Myanmar’s membership in the SCO.
He said, “Myanmar is already a dialogue partner of the SCO and also a country that participated in the Anti-Fascist Resistance. China and Myanmar are neighboring countries with strong kinship and friendship. China has always firmly supported Myanmar’s development and stability, backed its political processes, and continues to stand for the development of the Myanmar people and the building of a shared community. We will keep upholding the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, so that our two nations can continue living side by side in peace.”
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that Myanmar became a dialogue partner of SCO in May 2023 and has since started participating in its meetings. He expressed Myanmar’s wish for China’s continued support toward becoming a full member. He added that he believed this meeting would further strengthen relations between the two countries.
Afterward, he also discussed matters such as cooperation in Myanmar’s peace process, enhancing trade, accelerating projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR) and the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), and the effective utilization of natural resources.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was established on June 15, 2001, and its work focuses on security, politics, and economic cooperation.
The current member states are China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Belarus, while Mongolia holds observer status.
Other dialogue partner countries include Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Cambodia, Azerbaijan, Nepal, Armenia, Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Maldives, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.
