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China’s role in upholding multilateralism is fundamental, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a key security summit on Saturday.

Guterres, who was welcomed by Xi to the Chinese port city of Tianjin, venue of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025, gave a veiled criticism of the US amid the challenges facing the United Nations.

The UN chief described the present state of multilateralism as under fire. “We see new forms of policy that are sometimes difficult to understand, that sometimes look more like a show than the serious diplomatic efforts, and in which business and politics seems sometimes also mixed,” Guterres said.

In response, President Xi said China would always be a “reliable partner” to the UN***.*** “China is willing to deepen cooperation with the United Nations, support its central role in international affairs, and jointly shoulder its responsibilities in maintaining world peace and promoting development and prosperity,” Mr Xi told Mr Guterres.

SCO summit comes amid shake-up in geopolitical order

Guterres is attending the two-day SCO summit, where Vladimir Putin, Russia’s President, Narendra Modi, India’s Prime Minister and several leaders from Asia and the Middle East will gather with Mr Xi in a powerful show of solidarity.

For the first time since 2018, India’s Modi will be in China to attend the summit and as part of a rapprochement with Beijing that started late last year, but has been accelerated by US President Donald Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian goods. New Delhi is now believed to be looking for closer ties with Beijing and other Eurasian players.

The summit also comes just days before a massive military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where China emerged victorious over its neighbour, Japan.

According to Chinese state media, this year’s gathering is the “largest-ever SCO summit in history”, which would be used for “charting the blueprint for the bloc’s next decade of development.”

The SCO was established by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and later expanded to include members such as India, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus.

Afghanistan and Mongolia are observer states, and 14 other countries, mostly from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, serve as “dialogue partners.”

The country hosting the annual summit rotates every year.