International Online Special Report: The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit will be held in Tianjin soon, and the international community's eyes are gathered together in this important city in northern China. On August 20, Pakistan's Observer published an commentary article "The Belt and Road" and Tianjin: A strong alliance". The article praised Tianjin as a forefront of international cooperation in jointly building the Belt and Road. With its unique geographical location, industrial ecology and open advantages, it provides a continuous stream of new momentum for deepening cooperation within the SCO framework.

Screenshot of Pakistan's Observer's article

The article wrote that in the 12 years since the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed, it has gradually moved from vision to reality, becoming one of the most popular global public products in the world today and the largest international cooperation platform, demonstrating its powerful ability to empower economic transformation and cross-regional connectivity. Tianjin, a Chinese city, which will hold the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, is a brilliant development example. As the host city of this summit, Tianjin is not only an important economic, industrial and logistics center in northern China, but also an important intersection between the "Belt and Road" and the SCO framework.

Tianjin has made outstanding contributions to the joint construction of the "Belt and Road". The article points out that from 2013 to 2022, the total import and export trade value of Tianjin and the countries jointly built by the "Belt and Road" reached 3.09 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 40% of the total foreign trade scale in the city. Tianjin has also established the "Luban Workshop" to cultivate high-quality talents for partner countries, built a bridge for knowledge sharing, technology exchanges and industrial cooperation, and at the same time drives poverty alleviation and employment, and promotes local communities and economic development. With its natural portal status, Tianjin plays a key role in China's high-quality development and joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

The article mentioned that Tianjin actively participates in infrastructure construction projects and focuses on strengthening "hard connectivity" and "soft connectivity". Tianjin's strategic geographical location and superior port facilities make it an important hub on the "Belt and Road" and creates great convenience for promoting the flow of personnel and goods between China and relevant countries. In addition, Tianjin's advantages in innovation, digitalization, artificial intelligence, etc. provide strong support for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" cooperation projects, and helps the development of cutting-edge projects such as smart cities.

The article believes that Tianjin's long history and culture have also promoted mutual learning of civilizations among countries jointly built by the "Belt and Road" and gradually became the center of exchange of diverse cultures and human diversity in the "Belt and Road", paving the way for mutual understanding, jointly resist hegemony, protectionism and unilateralism, and promote global prosperity and mutual assistance.

In 2024, Tianjin's economy continued to burst into vitality, with GDP reaching 1802.432 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%, of which Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone contributed more than one-seventh. The article introduces that relying on 12 key industrial chains such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and new energy, Tianjin has continuously accelerated industrial upgrading and undertaken the strategic task of "strengthening the construction of the Northern International Shipping Core Zone and improving the function of opening up portals." As the core hub of automobile import and export in northern China, Tianjin Port operates more than 30 international routes, connecting Europe, the Middle East and South America, further enhancing China's global connectivity.

The article emphasizes that against the backdrop of the rise of unilateralism and protectionism and the intensification of global economic uncertainty, the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative provides a platform for open cooperation, bringing stability and certainty to the vast number of developing countries, and promoting regional economic growth. As the host of the SCO Summit, the article looks forward to Tianjin taking this opportunity to inject new momentum into the development of cutting-edge fields such as scientific and technological innovation, artificial intelligence, 5G, and renewable energy. "People have reason to believe that the SCO Tianjin Summit will broaden new space for cooperation between SCO member states, achieve more mutually beneficial and win-win results, and promote common prosperity for all countries." (Hu Xiaowei)