China to bolster non-Western blocs

China's President Xi Jinping will host world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi from tomorrow for a summit before a huge military parade as he seeks to showcase a non-Western style of regional collaboration.

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will be held tomorrow and Monday, days before the military parade in nearby Beijing to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, which North Korea's Kim Jong-un will attend.

The SCO comprises China, India, Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus — with 16 more countries affiliated as observers or “dialogue partners”.

China and Russia have used the organisation — sometimes touted as a counter to the Western-dominated Nato military alliance — to deepen ties with Central Asian states.

As China’s claim over Taiwan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have seen them clash with the United States and Europe, analysts say the SCO is one forum where they are trying to win influence.

More than 20 leaders including Iranian and Turkish Presidents Masoud Pezeshkian and Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the bloc’s largest meeting since its founding in 2001.