China announces 100 livelihood projects, RMB 2 billion grant and SCO-focused scholarships

China has unveiled a new package of initiatives aimed at supporting Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, spanning grassroots development, education and research, skills training and financing for regional projects.

Key initiatives announced

• Implement 100 “small and beautiful” livelihood projects in SCO member states with identified needs.
• Provide RMB 2 billion in grants to SCO member states within this year.
• Extend RMB 10 billion in loans over the next three years to member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium.
• Starting next year, double the number of SCO-specific scholarships and launch an SCO Innovative PhD program to jointly cultivate high-caliber talent in academic and scientific-technological research.
• Over the next five years, establish 10 Luban Workshops in SCO countries and offer 10,000 human resources training opportunities.

Summit context and strategic vision

The measures were presented alongside the SCO summit’s broader themes of deepening cooperation and charting a forward-looking development agenda. China emphasized the SCO’s growing influence in fostering constructive international relations and advancing a shared future-oriented framework. The leadership underscored the summit’s mission to build consensus, energize collaboration and produce a practical roadmap for the years ahead.

AI cooperation elevated in Tianjin Declaration

Member states, including India, agreed to intensify cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) under the Tianjin Declaration of the SCO Council of Heads of State, adopted at the 2025 SCO Summit. The declaration builds on international efforts to strengthen AI capacity building and affirms that all countries have equal rights to develop and use AI technologies. It also records the group’s readiness to address risks and to enhance security, accountability, reliability, transparency, inclusiveness, trustworthiness and fairness across AI systems.

To operationalize these objectives, the declaration advocates implementing the Roadmap for the SCO Member States’ Cooperation Programme on AI Development (adopted in Chengdu on 12 June 2025). This framework is intended to align national strategies, share best practices and foster joint projects that combine research, talent and industry applications.

Broader cooperation agenda

China’s proposals at the summit also encouraged expanded collaboration in energy, infrastructure, the digital economy and science-and-technology innovation. The combination of grant financing, concessional lending, scholarships and skills platforms is designed to convert political consensus into tangible outcomes—especially for capacity building, technology transfer and people-to-people exchanges across the SCO’s ten member states, as well as its observer states and dialogue partners.

Innovation on display

Reflecting the summit’s focus on digital and AI-driven transformation, a humanoid AI robot named Xiao supported media personnel and attendees with information and logistical assistance. The demonstration highlighted the SCO’s interest in practical applications of emerging technologies and in building a regulatory and ethical environment that enables innovation while mitigating risks.

What the announcements mean

• Near-term impact: Grants and “small and beautiful” projects can move quickly to address local needs, while loans through the SCO Interbank Consortium can catalyze larger investments.
• Medium-term outcomes: Doubling scholarships and launching an innovative PhD program can expand the region’s research capacity, while Luban Workshops and 10,000 training opportunities aim to close skills gaps.
• Long-term trajectory: The AI roadmap and broader cooperation agenda suggest a sustained push to align standards, share knowledge and build resilient development pathways across the SCO space.

Taken together, the new initiatives and the commitments captured in the Tianjin Declaration signal a comprehensive effort to pair financial resources with talent development and technology cooperation—positioning the SCO to translate summit-level consensus into concrete, measurable progress.