Over 20 world leaders descended on Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) largest summit since 2001 for talks on current trade issues and future partnerships.
The guest list read like a who's who of countries getting hammered by Trump's trade war. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian PM Narendra Modi, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan all showed up - alongside leaders from across Asia and the Middle East, increasingly fed up with Washington.
The SCO has expanded rapidly from its original six founding members in 2001. Iran joined in 2023 and Belarus in 2024, bringing total membership to ten countries.
Modi's appearance was his first trip to China since 2018, coming after Trump slapped 50% tariffs on Indian goods - a move that may be pushing New Delhi straight into Beijing's arms.
In talks with Xi, both leaders agreed that stable China-India relations are “key to realising the Asian century”. The SCO covers nearly half the world's population and a quarter of global GDP.
Xi told the gathering the SCO now bears "greater responsibility" for regional stability, pushing the SCO's security agenda during the summit with talks on the organisation's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure expanding its focus on terrorism, separatism and extremism across Eurasia.
Putin met separately with Turkish President Erdogan about Ukraine and held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian regarding Tehran's nuclear program. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also attended.
