Representatives from SCO member states deliver speeches at the meeting.

The 9th meeting of Ministers of Education of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states was held on May 13 in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Delivering speeches were Ma Xingrui, a member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau and Party secretary of Xinjiang, and Huai Jinpeng, China's Minister of Education.

Ma, on behalf of the CPC Xinjiang Committee and the autonomous regional government, welcomed delegates to discuss educational cooperation in Xinjiang. He noted that since its establishment, the SCO has pioneered a collaborative model uniting nations with diverse social systems and development paths through openness, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness.

In recent years, Xinjiang has prioritized education as a strategic pillar for advancing Chinese-style modernization in the region, achieving breakthroughs in educational development. Efforts are accelerating to build Xinjiang into a cultural, scientific, and educational hub of the Silk Road Economic Belt. The conference serves as an opportunity to deepen educational collaboration and contribute to a closer, shared future community among SCO members.

Huai highlighted that the SCO Astana Declaration has consolidated consensus among member states, laying a solid foundation for advancing educational cooperation toward shared prosperity. China's education system has achieved historic milestones, establishing the world's largest high-quality education framework, supporting socioeconomic growth, enhancing openness, and embracing digital transformation.

China remains committed to global educational collaboration and aims to share its experience in sustainable development, forge new cooperation platforms, enrich existing initiatives, and expand partnerships through this ministerial meeting.

Vice Minister of Education Wu Yan chaired the meeting. The Minister of Education of Belarus, the Minister of Science, Research and Technology of Iran, and the Minister of Science and Higher Education and Minister of Education of Kazakhstan delivered speeches at the meeting.

Speeches were also delivered by the Minister of Education and Science of Kyrgyzstan, a representative of the Pakistani Embassy in China, the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, the Minister of Education and Science of Tajikistan, and the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation of Uzbekistan.

The meeting reviewed and adopted key documents, including the Minutes of the Second Meeting of the SCO University Coordination Committee (April 23, 2025), the SCO University Digital Education Development Plan, the 15th Education Week of the SCO Member States, the Urumqi Initiative, and the Joint Communique of the 9th meeting of Ministers of Education of SCO member states.

It also released the time and location of the 10th meeting and approved Belarus as the host. Additionally, the Meeting Minutes of the 9th meeting of Ministers of Education of SCO member states were signed, and the ‌SCO National Digital Education Alliance‌ and the ‌China-SCO Doctoral Education Innovation Center‌ were inaugurated.

Zhang Liqun, president of Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU) and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, on behalf of the Chinese Presidential Office of the SCO University, presented the SCO University Digital Education Development Plan and details of the 15th Education Week of SCO Member States. He also unveiled plaques for the SCO National Digital Education Alliance and the China-SCO Doctoral Education Innovation Center.

On May 12, the 2025 Annual Conference of SCO University opened with Huai reaffirming China's support for the university's sustainable development and the collaborative efforts with educational authorities from member countries to establish the SCO University as a model for international educational cooperation.

At the 8th meeting of Ministers of Education of SCO member states, the 2024–2026 SCO University Roadmap was reviewed and approved. Under this roadmap, the Chinese Presidential Office of the SCO University spearheaded the formulation of the SCO University Digital Education Development Plan.

The plan outlines four key tasks: Building a shared digital education resource platform, deepening research and application of educational technologies, enhancing teachers' digital literacy, and strengthening policy and standardization frameworks.

It defines a three-phase implementation path (2025–2033), progressing from foundational setup to targeted pilot projects and full-scale promotion.

To implement the SCO Astana Summit's consensus on advancing digital education and address the transformative impact of digital technologies on education, XJTU initiated the establishment of the SCO Digital Education Alliance.

The alliance aims to create an open platform that welcomes universities and enterprises with shared aspirations and collaborative potential. Its key priorities include building shared educational resource platforms, promoting cooperation in educational technologies, enhancing teachers' digital literacy, conducting research on digital education policies, and developing standardized systems.