PM Anwar to join world leaders at SCO summit in Tianjin

China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto are also expected to attend.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with nine other international organisation leaders, will participate in the summit, he said.

President Xi Jinping will chair the 25th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State and the SCO Plus Meeting, where he is scheduled to deliver keynote speeches, Liu told reporters during a briefing at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday.

The briefing was also attended by foreign journalists under the ongoing China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) 2025 Programme including a Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) representative.

Liu said the upcoming summit marks a significant moment for China's diplomacy in fostering exchanges and strengthening multilateralism.

"The Tianjin Summit will take the SCO into a new phase, promoting greater solidarity, development, humanity, prosperity and progress," he added.

An official from the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing said Malaysia will be involved in the SCO Plus Meeting during the summit.

SCO was established in 2001 in Shanghai by six founding nations - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The member countries have now expanded to 10 after Pakistan, India, Iran and Belarus joined the organisation, while Mongolia and Afghanistan have been granted observer status.

Among the 13 SCO dialogue partners are Sri Lanka, Turkiye, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Maldives.