Backgrounder: Things to know about SCO

Eurasian leaders are now in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent for an annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) whose aim is to facilitate regional and international cooperation.

The leaders interact actively at the 16th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO held at 15th anniversary of its establishment. They seek to strengthen cooperation in various areas including infrastructure, industrial capacity, security, investment and trade.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will share his views on the development of the SCO as well as the Eurasian region. The meeting will conclude on Friday.

The following are some basic facts about the SCO.

The SCO is a six-member inter-governmental organization founded in Shanghai on June 15, 2001.

Grouping China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the SCO covers a total area of over 30 million square km and accounts for a quarter of the world's population.

It has Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey as dialogue partners.

At the Tashkent summit, the SCO member states are to approve a memorandum to pave the way for India and Pakistan to join the organization.

Dedicated to maintaining regional security and promoting common development, the SCO adheres to the Shanghai Spirit, which features mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for cultural diversity and pursuit of common development.

It has also initiated a new security concept based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation.

The SCO has two permanent organs: the Secretariat in Beijing and the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure in Tashkent.

As an observer of the UN General Assembly, the SCO is the only regional inter-governmental organization founded in China, named after a Chinese city and headquartered in China. Endi