Pakistani Ambassador to China highlights broader opportunities under China's 15th Five-Year Plan

By Wang Gaofei, Xue Lingqiao and Lin Mengnan 

In late August 2025, member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathered in Tianjin, a coastal city in North China, seeking to jointly bolster regional stability and advance coordinated development, a theme that aligns closely with China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030).

The year 2026 marks the beginning of the 15th Five-Year Plan. At this pivotal juncture, how will the SCO continue to play a key role in safeguarding regional stability while seizing the development opportunities presented by the plan? Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil Hashmi shared his opinions during an interview with China News Network.

Reviewing the 2025 SCO Tianjin Summit, Hashmi noted that the meeting focused on two key priorities: maintaining regional stability and pursuing shared development.

He noted that in recent years, the international situation has been marked by turbulence and transformation, with protracted and escalating geopolitical conflicts. Against this complex backdrop, SCO member states have always adhered to the Shanghai Spirit. Within this framework, the principle of pursuing shared development has become even more precious in the current context.

He also stated that amid complex global changes and growing, SCO member states have injected much stability, predictability, and a great degree of institutional maturity into the region.

During the 2025 Tianjin Summit, SCO leaders adopted the Tianjin Declaration, which includes underscoring the importance of maintaining regional stability also stated in the "Agreement on the Universal Centre for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of SCO Member States."

Hashmi pointed out that the SCO Tianjin Summit hosted by China helped strengthen political mutual trust among member states, which is particularly crucial in the current period of great uncertainty.

"It provided a steady strategic leadership," he commended.

Despite the geopolitical pressures currently faced by countries worldwide, China has demonstrated unity with SCO nations through the summit, Hashimi added.

In addition to building consensus on regional security, the SCO Tianjin Summit has also injected strong impetus into regional economic development, during which a series of practical cooperation initiatives have been approved. These stress the sustainable economic growth through enhanced connectivity, technological innovation, and green transformation.

One of the examples is that the SCO advanced the establishment of multiple platforms and centers last year, among which the China-SCO Green Industry Cooperation Platform attracted attention.

In Hashmi's view, this reflects a development-oriented and people-centered approach, which aligns closely with the goals of China's 15th Five-Year Plan.

He noted that the plan marks a critical phase in building a Beautiful China and achieving a fundamental improvement in the ecological environment. In recent years, China has vigorously promoted green development.

Against this backdrop, he said, the SCO's efforts to advance the construction of a cooperation platform for green industries are highly consistent with China's development blueprint, and chart a practical path for bilateral cooperation among member states.

Over the past 15 years, Hashmi noted, China has demonstrated a great deal of progress in the overall environmental protection, renewable energy, green industries, and green manufacturing. To further deepen Pakistan-China bilateral cooperation, he suggested the two countries should advance the implementation of relevant joint projects and jointly develop industry standards.

He said developing countries should cooperate with China to attract Chinese enterprises to assemble and manufacture components, like solar panels, locally, and to develop the capacity to store solar-generated electricity.

"I think, more specifically, in the solar industry, in the wind industry, in the electric vehicles, many developing countries need such practical products, which are environmentally friendly, sustainable, but more importantly, affordable," Hashmi said.

Looking ahead from new starting point, Hashmi expressed his full confidence on regional cooperation.

"With the advent of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, there be even greater opportunities for all countries, including China, to enhance more win-win cooperation," Hashmi concluded.