China-led SCO economic summit is a show designed to rattle the West
The striking optics of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit are what people are likely to remember - leaders from some of the most populous, influential and anti-American nations in the world chatting, eating and laughing together.
Monday 1 September 2025 18:56, UK
The agreements struck at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit are not what onlookers are likely to remember.
It is the striking optics that will stick.
Leaders from some of the most populous, influential and anti-American nations in the world, all sat together; eating, laughing and nodding along to the idea that they should endeavour to work closer together.
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A show absolutely designed to rattle those looking on from the West.
At the centre of it all, of course, was Chinese President Xi Jinping. The staging at the leaders' meeting spoke volumes; a horseshoe table with Xi at the centre, set slightly apart from the others.
And there is no doubt about who his guest of honour has been, and that is Russia's Vladimir Putin.
It was he alone given a lingering conversation with Xi on arrival; he stood at Xi's right-hand side for the group photo. The other leaders looked a bit like they were just tagging along behind as they went on in to have dinner.
This all matters because it comes just over two weeks after Putin was in Alaska with Donald Trump, discussing the potential for peace in Ukraine.
Since then, the bombs he has dropped on civilians have spoken volumes of his contempt for the process.
The fact he is being welcomed with such open arms here is an unequivocal display of China's support and a mutual desire to align their strategy on the conflict.
China might claim neutrality in Putin's war, but any peace deal that advantages NATO or Trump will likely be unacceptable to Xi.
And what he has to say will matter - Chinese markets for Russian oil and gas have kept Putin's war machine afloat.
The Russian president made a point of confirming in a speech that he will be briefing powers here about what was said and agreed in Alaska. Any hope the US or others might have harboured that China would not be given the chance to weigh in, resolutely put to bed.
Indeed, there are many things that the nations here disagree on, but they all share some degree of distaste for America.
Whether it's smaller South East Asian nations slapped with tariffs that will hit their economies hard, or the likes of Iran subject to a US bombing campaign just a few months ago.
It's a thread Xi knows he can capitalise on and a moment ripe for the offer of an alternative.
In his speech he called on his guests to "oppose hegemony and power politics". No prizes for guessing who or what he was talking about.
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Leaders of the member states here have agreed to strengthen co-operation in sectors such as security, economic and cultural exchanges, and there has also been a proposal for a new SCO-led development bank.
But when you take it in the round, the substance of the deals is not what really matters here - this was all about winning friends and influence, about gradual shifts in the world order and who countries should look to for leadership.