Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun welcoming world leaders in Tianjin, where the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will hold its largest summit to date.

Dignitaries already in the northern port city include United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, ahead of two days of meetings that bring together more than 20 heads of state.

The summit underscores Beijing and Moscow’s efforts to project the SCO as a powerful counterweight to Western alliances. Leaders of SCO member states – China, Russia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – are attending, alongside representatives from 16 affiliated partners and observers ranging from Saudi Arabia and Egypt to NATO member Turkey.

Since its founding in 2001 as a regional security bloc, the SCO has grown into a forum that spans security, trade, energy, and political coordination. Its members together represent some 40 per cent of the world’s population and oversee vast energy reserves. The group regularly conducts joint counter-terrorism exercises and intelligence-sharing, while also pushing for what its members call a “just international order” – one not dominated by a single superpower.

This year’s gathering comes at a politically charged moment. Just days later, Beijing will stage a large military parade to mark 80 years since the end of World War II, an event expected to feature Chinese weaponry and draw leaders including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing. For Xi, the timing allows him to showcase both China’s diplomatic influence and its military strength.

For Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who is scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines, it is another opportunity to demonstrate resilience despite his ongoing war in Ukraine. In an interview with Chinese state media ahead of the summit, Putin described the China-Russia partnership as a “stabilising force” and said the two countries shared a vision of a “multipolar world order” – a direct challenge to what they see as an American-led system.

The choice of Tianjin as host city also carries historic weight. Once carved up by colonial powers and occupied by Imperial Japan during World War II, the port has long been seen as a symbol of China’s “century of humiliation.” Today, it provides a stage for Xi to present China as a confident global player shaping a new order.

Across the city, banners in Chinese, English, and Russian herald the SCO’s arrival, while heavy traffic restrictions reflect the strict security that accompanies such high-profile diplomacy in China.