Zhang also noted that since the SCO's inception, member states have achieved rapid economic growth through foreign trade development and foreign investment attraction. Income levels among the 10 SCO member states have steadily risen, with countries transitioning from low-income to lower-middle-income, and from lower-middle to upper-middle-income status.

　　In recent years, economic and trade cooperation among member states has further strengthened its role in driving economic development. Kyrgyzstan, the host of the SCO summit this year, for instance, posted an economic growth rate of 11.1 percent in 2025, making it one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and the country is expected to maintain robust growth this year.

　　Foreign trade of SCO member states has also grown rapidly. Based on WTO data, Zhang calculated that the total goods import and export volume of the current 10 SCO members stood at $859.5 billion in 2001. By 2025, that figure had surged to $8.87 trillion, a 10.3-fold increase that significantly outpaced the global trade growth of 4.2 times over the same period.

　　Based on trends from the first half of this year, the total trade volume of the 10 member states is expected to surpass $9.5 trillion in 2026 and may even approach the $10 trillion mark — representing more than 11 times the volume recorded the year the organization was founded.

　　This westward connectivity across Eurasia is being seamlessly complemented by the southward expansion of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor. Together, the two routes form a comprehensive logistics network linking Eurasia and ASEAN, with China's central and western regions serving as a strategic nexus.