China, Russia and other four Central Asian countries decided in Shanghai on Friday to launch a regional cooperation organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), for the purpose of ensuring regional security as well as common prosperity.

Establishment of SCO will also serve to help create a new political and economic order in the world, analysts in Shanghai said.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Uzbek President Islam Karimov signed the declaration of the SCO.

The declaration said that the organization will try all out to safeguard the regional security and cooperate with each other in fighting against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The SCO member states also announced to initiate an anti-terrorism centre based in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

While encouraging member states to cooperate in economy and trade, science and technology, culture, education, energy, transportation and environmental protection, the SCO aims to create a new international political and economic order featuring democracy, justness and rationality, the analysts said.

The signing parties of the declaration also promoted the "Shanghai Spirit", which embodies mutual trust and benefit, equality, consultation, mutual respect to different civilizations and common prosperity, said a source.

Meanwhile, the organization pledged to keep the organization open to other countries, which, if choosing to meet its requirements, will be allowed to join in the organization.

(chinadaily.com.cn 06/15/2001)