The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, to be held in Bishkek on August 31–September 1 and dedicated to the organization’s 25th anniversary, comes against the backdrop of a notable strengthening of Azerbaijan’s role in the SCO’s Eurasian agenda. Azerbaijan has been interacting with the SCO for more than a decade. The country obtained dialogue partner status in 2015, while the relevant memorandum was signed in Beijing in 2016.
Over the past two years, however, the nature of this interaction has changed noticeably. In July 2024, Baku officially applied for observer status, while in September 2025 the SCO decided to introduce a unified “SCO Partner” status, abolishing the previous observer and dialogue partner formats. The transition to the new system of statuses still requires the completion of legal procedures, but the process itself shows that Azerbaijan’s interaction with the organization is gradually moving beyond a formal partnership framework.
This is also reflected in the level of political representation. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the “SCO Plus” meetings in Astana in 2024 and Tianjin in 2025. At the Tianjin summit, the president described Azerbaijan’s relations with one of the organization’s key members, China, as a foundation for broader regional cooperation.
We contribute to maintaining international and regional peace and security, and implement large-scale economic, transport and energy projects,” President Ilham Aliyev said. China is of particular importance in this context. According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, trade turnover between the two countries reached $4.874 billion in 2025, increasing by 30.2% year-on-year.
Azerbaijan’s exports to China rose 4.3-fold to $84.4 million, while imports amounted to $4.790 billion. Thus, the Chinese direction already has significant economic weight for Baku. But the main point of convergence between Azerbaijan and the SCO is not limited to trade.
Transport connectivity is becoming increasingly important. We are implementing substantial practical projects in this direction,” the president said. This is where the Middle Corridor becomes one of the key elements of the broader framework.
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