Why did China’s Xi Jinping pick Tianjin for the SCO Summit, not Shanghai or Beijing?

SCO was founded as a group of six countries and added four more members over the years.

Chinese President Xi Jinping gathered 20 foreign leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in North Tianjin. SCO is an inter -government group established on 15 June 2001 and consists of 10 member states. This year’s summit was defined by Chinese authorities as the largest in the history of block. However, the place of the summit for this pressure attracted a lot of attention. So, why did China choose to keep the summit in Tianjin, not in Shanghai city or the capital Beijing? Let’s tell you.

What is Tianjin’s importance for China?

Tianjin is not China’s most well -known city. However, this is the third largest city center of the country and remains very important in the growth story. Tianjin is 120 kilometers from Beijing and traditionally served as a port for the capital. It is also an important industrial center for production, automobile production and petrochemicals. Tianjin has been one of the fastest growing cities in the world in recent years. By choosing Tianjin for SCO, China may be trying to exhibit its developmental capabilities and challenge the global order led by the West.

What is SCO and which countries are members?

SCO was founded as a group of six countries and added four more members over the years. Currently, member states are China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. The summit also points to the first visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China after more than seven years. PM Modi has already met with Jinping and is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. The summit comes at a very important time, as US President Donald Trump raises the geopolitical scenario through trade tariffs.