On November 14–15, 2025, the International “Shanghai Spirit and the Power of Youth Action” Conference was held in Xi’an. The event was organized by the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IREECA CASS) and Northwestern Polytechnical University, with support from the SCO China Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.
The organizers envisaged the conference as a platform for exploring how young people could become a driving force behind advancing the SCO’s development agenda and the “Shanghai Spirit” as emerging mechanisms of global governance. In practice, however, participants concluded that in the current international environment, the youth dimension of the SCO should not diverge from the organization’s broader agenda. Growing geopolitical competition and slowing globalization, they noted, make it essential to search jointly for new solutions.
On November 14–15, 2025, the International “Shanghai Spirit and the Power of Youth Action” Conference was held in Xi’an. The event was organized by the Institute of Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IREECA CASS) and Northwestern Polytechnical University, with support from the SCO China Committee on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation.
The organizers envisaged the conference as a platform for exploring how young people could become a driving force behind advancing the SCO’s development agenda and the “Shanghai Spirit” as emerging mechanisms of global governance. In practice, however, participants concluded that in the current international environment, the youth dimension of the SCO should not diverge from the organization’s broader agenda. Growing geopolitical competition and slowing globalization, they noted, make it essential to search jointly for new solutions.
Over the two days, eight expert sessions were held with participants from China, the Central Asian states, and the Republic of Belarus. Russia was represented by Yulia Melnikova, Head of the “Asia and Eurasia” Program at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), and Stanislav Pritchin, Head of the Central Asia Section at the Center for Post-Soviet Studies of the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences. In her remarks, Yulia outlined Russia’s approach to the "Greater Eurasia" concept and proposed directions for multilateral cooperation within the SCO aimed at strengthening the organization’s role as a key institution for ensuring security and promoting development across Eurasia.
