“Promoting the Shanghai Spirit”: Development of Regional Digitalization for Peaceful Geopolitical Purposes

The article is devoted to the current issues of regional digitalization within the framework of permanent participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for peaceful purposes and the SCO summit in Tianjin in 2025, the slogan of which is "Promoting the Shanghai Spirit: SCO in Action". In the context of digital globalization and taking into account the opportunities, risks and challenges in the development of regional digitalization of the SCO member countries, the authors of the article clarify the directions and prospects for cooperation between them in the context of accelerating the construction of Internet infrastructure, creating regional digital platforms; security of the development of the digital economy, strengthening cooperation in the field of creating an industry-wide technological alliance for cooperation to promote interaction in the digital spheres between the member countries of this association. The purpose of the analysis is to position the directions and results of the development of regional digitalization of the economies of the SCO technological alliance for peaceful geopolitical purposes. The objectives of the study were qualitative assessments, firstly, of the digital transformation and development of the digital economy in the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the SCO as a unique platform for the development of the digital economy of its member countries; secondly, the role of China in activating the digitalization of the economies of the SCO member states in the context of the digital silk road; thirdly, the importance of the SCO digital forums for the peaceful development of global digitalization; fourthly, the special position of India's cooperation, drawn into the "artificial intelligence race", in the field of regional digitalization within the SCO. The profound result of the study was the conclusion of the article that in the era of turbulence, accelerating scientific and technological revolution, global digitalization, the "artificial intelligence race", the technological sovereignty of the country and the region is the basis of political sovereignty both at the national, as evidenced by China's status as one of the global digital powers, and at the regional levels.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), SCO Digital Economy Forum 2025, SCO Tianjin Summit 2025 under the theme “Advancing the Shanghai Spirit: SCO in Action”, geopolitics, global digitalization, regional digital platforms, Xi Jinping’s Digital Silk Road initiative, cooperation of SCO countries in the field of digital economy (DE) and artificial intelligence (AI)