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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang highlighted the importance of regional stability and security, further integration and the leading roles played by high technology and innovation among Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries on Monday, shedding light on the acceleration of the coronavirus vaccine development. Chinese experts see the SCO has become an intergovernmental organization covering multiple areas, with its new roles having far-reaching implications.

At the 19th meeting of the council of heads of government of member states of the SCO, Li made four major proposals including building a safer environment by enhancing mechanisms to counter cyber terrorism and new challenges brought up by biosafety, boosting economic recovery and using the SCO platform to further facilitate trade and investment by building regional fast track and green pathway to help production resumption. He also mentioned that high-technology and innovation should play a leading role in helping growth momentum by further connecting the digital economy with traditional industries. 

Li also called for accelerating coronavirus vaccine development, claiming that after the Chinese-developed vaccines being put into use, they will become the globe's public goods. 

"The SCO, established for security and military cooperation, has become an important platform for economic development and technology cooperation, which is also evolving to keep up with the times," Li Haidong, professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday. 

The inclusive organization is expected to play a bigger role in epidemic prevention and control as well as economic and social recovery post-COVID-19, Li noted. 

Following recent diplomatic outreach by China's top officials, where epidemic control and economic recovery took center stage, Premier Li reiterated China's willingness to promote multilateral cooperation in trade and investment. 

Two meetings at different levels within a month allow the SCO to better translate its concepts into action, laying out a roadmap for further SCO cooperation, experts said. 

Some experts suggest the SCO will have new roles to play during the on-going pandemic and profound changes within the US. 

While some media reports and academics compare the SCO to the US-led military alliance NATO, "such a comparison severely underestimated the potential of the SCO, which is a much more comprehensive organization for security but also for innovation and development, and is also expected to become regional public health platform," Li Haidong said. 

The SCO faces two major challenges: the resurgence of COVID-19 and strong demand to restart the economy, as member countries have been under tremendous pressure since the outbreaks. 

"Among the four proposals of Premier Li, the role of technology and innovation has been highlighted. This year is also the year of cooperation on innovation for China and Russia, providing an opportunity to bring regional technological cooperation into a larger context," Li Ziguo, an expert from the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.