The 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on July 4.

The summit, during which a wide range of topics — including institutional reform and expansion, trade and economic cooperation, and cultural cooperation — were discussed, was in the spotlight amid escalating geopolitical conflicts. Western media have attempted to portray the SCO as a “counterweight to NATO”, calling it “the NATO of the East”, which is an absurd and ill-intentioned move.

As I see it, the nature of the SCO deserves a more objective and sensible assessment instead of the “bloc confrontation” mindset arising from an evolving international landscape. The SCO differs from NATO in at least three ways.

First, they were created for different causes. Two major blocs — the capitalist bloc led by the United States, and the socialist bloc led by the Soviet Union — were formed following the end of World War II. The US-led NATO and the USSR-led Warsaw Pact were military blocs from the day they were established, aimed at military confrontation. NATO was founded for military confrontation, whereas SCO was created for promoting regional stability. After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, the heads of state of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan met with their Chinese counterpart in Shanghai in 1996 to resolve border issues. Thereafter, a five-nation negotiation mechanism was gradually formed. In June 2001, Uzbekistan joined in as a full member when the heads of state of the “Shanghai Five” held their sixth meeting in Shanghai, marking the first session of the six countries as they signed the Declaration on the Establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Thus, the SCO was founded to promote international stability.

Second, the two differ in functions. Whereas NATO, a military alliance, requires member states to dispatch troops if an allied country is under military attack, the SCO, with maintaining regional stability as its purpose, focuses on combating the “dark trio” — terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Third, the two differ in behavior. Since its establishment, particularly after the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, NATO has, on various occasions, undertaken military interventions in regional conflicts and civil wars of other countries, including those in then-Yugoslavia, Libya and Syria. Such arbitrary armed interventions have undermined the international order established after World War II. The SCO, on the other hand, has never engaged in anything like that since its founding. Instead, it has achieved remarkable results in jointly combating the “dark trio” and maintaining regional stability.

By virtue of its noble nature, the SCO has gained increasing popularity. Before Belarus joined the organization in July, it had grown from six to nine member states, covering more than 37 million square kilometers, accounting for approximately one-fourth of the global landmass, and with a total population of nearly 3.6 billion, or half of the world’s population.

President Xi Jinping’s attendance at the SCO summit in Kazakhstan is of special significance. During his state visit to Kazakhstan in September 2013, Xi proposed for the first time the Silk Road Economic Belt, an essential component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has thus far made remarkable achievements. SCO members overlap with BRI participating countries, with the six SCO founding member states all located along the ancient Silk Road connecting the East and the West.

Since the founding of the SCO, China and other partner countries have developed increasingly strong ties in economic and trade cooperation. For instance, a record high of nearly $90 billion trade volume was attained between China and Central Asian countries last year, a year-on-year increase of 27.2 percent.

In early June, the governments of China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement in Beijing to build a railway connecting the three countries. It can potentially extend to West and South Asia and become a major transportation artery across Asia, playing a pivotal role in the development of the region.

As China was a victim of warfare and chaos in the 20th century, the country is well aware of the fact that nothing can be achieved without stability. Thanks to a stable regional environment, China has undergone 45 years of reform and opening-up, creating two miracles in the process: longstanding social stability, and sustained high-speed economic growth.

Based on its development experience, China has provided the SCO with a workable “Chinese solution” that enables the SCO to stay away from external conflicts and avoid intervening in partner states’ internal affairs. Today, the “Shanghai Spirit” of “mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development” has become the core value and action guide of the SCO, creating a new paradigm of international relations and shaping a more just, equitable and rational international order.

Such an approach will not only play a central role in mitigating geopolitical conflicts and trade tensions in the near term but also in building a community with a shared future for mankind in the long run. This new paradigm of international relations heralds the direction of the civilization. The road may be bumpy, but the direction is right.

The SCO will stay committed to the realization of a community with a shared future for mankind. While some countries might intend to change its course, as long as China plays a leading role in it, the SCO will remain a pillar for safeguarding world peace and development.

The author is vice-chairman of the Committee on Liaison with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.