Southeast Asia Attends SCO Summit as Xi Proposes New Bank

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. At Tianjin’s SCO summit, Southeast Asian leaders attended as Xi pushed a development bank, $280m grants and $1.4b in loans.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. Southeast Asian leaders attended as Xi pushed a development bank, $280m grants and $1.4b in loans. (Photo by Sergey Bobylev / POOL / AFP)

Five Southeast Asian leaders attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin on Monday. China used the event to push for a bigger economic role for the bloc, proposing new tools such as a development bank and more lending for members.

Southeast Asia’s five leaders joined talks as China proposed a development bank, focused on concrete outcomes: financing, connectivity, and market access, over ideological alignment.

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by Edwin Shri Bimo

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