A flag-raising ceremony was held at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Secretariat in Beijing on Saturday to mark the accession of Belarus to the regional intergovernmental organization.
Belarus was formally accepted as the 10th member state of the organization at the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO held in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on Thursday.
SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming and Belarusian Foreign Minister Maksim Ryzhenkov, who is on an official visit to China, jointly raised the national flag of Belarus at the ceremony.
"Since its establishment, the SCO has always adhered to the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development. The accession of Belarus will enable us to better leverage our organizational strengths and jointly address regional and international challenges and risks," Zhang said.
"Take SCO member states for example. The SCO member states and their peoples have the opportunity to feel that there exists such an important platform in the world. It is a place where everyone's voice can be heard, where respectful dialogue can take place and where the history, culture and national identity of countries can be understood and taken into account. Within the context of global turmoil, it carries particularly important value to us that the SCO member states are able to reach consensus and take future-oriented and coordinated decisions," said Ryzhenkov.
As a comprehensive regional organization with the largest population and the most extensive territory in the world, the SCO has grown from six founding members in 2001 to 10 member states, two observer states and 14 dialogue partners currently.
After the summit in Astana this year, China once again took over the rotating presidency of the SCO. China proposed to build a common home of solidarity and mutual trust, peace and tranquility, prosperity and development, good-neighborliness and friendship, and fairness and justice.
"We will actively fulfill our duties and push the SCO to deepen cooperation in political, security, economic, cultural and other fields. China looks forward to working with Belarus and other member states to make the SCO more united, more efficient in cooperation and more effective in action, so as to better benefit the people of all countries in the region," said Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Xiaodong at the ceremony.
Flag-raising ceremony held at SCO secretariat to mark Belarus' accession
China has seen rising sales of products such as cars and home appliances, during the week-long National Day holiday, which started on Oct.1, thanks to the ongoing trade-in program for consumer goods.
Shanghai has offered substantial subsidies for consumers replacing old appliances with newer, greener models, further fueling the buying frenzy amid the holiday.
The city's initiative expands upon the national trade-in program by including a wider range of eligible products.
In addition to the eight major appliance categories like refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, and air conditioners, the program now covers 60 additional product types, including robot vacuums, air purifiers, and hearing aids. Subsidies cover 15 percent of the sales price, up to a maximum of 2,000 yuan (around 285 U.S. dollars).
"There has been at least a 50 percent to 60 percent increase in customer flow compared to the previous promotional period," said Zhang Xiaoliang, operation director of a home appliance store.
The first three days of October witnessed a total sales revenue of home appliances reaching nearly 300 million yuan (roughly 42.74 billion U.S. dollars) in the city.
Meanwhile, consumer goods trade-in program rolled out by the Shanghai government has spurred rising sales of vehicles.
The subsidy for consumers in Shanghai who scrap old cars and buy new ones has increased to 20,000 yuan (about 2,850 U.S. dollars) for purchasing a new-energy vehicle (NEV) and 15,000 yuan (around 2,137 U.S. dollars) for a fuel vehicle.
"The current sales volume, sales turnover and the number of customers who come for a test drive, have all increased by some 30 percent respectively compared with the same period last year," explained Mr. Zhu, a sales representative at a dealership.
Hefei City in east China's Anhui Province held an auto show from Sept. 29 to Oct. 5, attracting many potential purchasers following the implementation of trade-in programs.
In addition to trade-in subsides of up to 20,000 yuan (about 2,850 U.S. dollars), the city has issued auto vouchers worth 37 million yuan (roughly 5.27 U.S. million dollars) to boost auto sales during the consumption boom period.
"The vehicle trade-in policy introduced by Anhui Province has effectively stimulated consumers' purchase intentions. It's a good news for our company. During this auto show, we offered discounts of up to 70,000 yuan (around 9,974 U.S. dollars)," said Yu Dongming, general manager of NIO's regional branch in Hefei.
From Sept. 29 to Oct. 4, about 447,000 visitors attended the exhibition, and a total of 18,807 vehicles were sold.
China's trade-in program spurs consumer market vitality during National Day holiday
