On the Meeting of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which was held in Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan on June 17, 2004, Chinese President Hu Jintao signed the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the SCO along with the heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation and Tajikistan. This convention was formulated in accordance with Article 19 of the SCO Charter. It was drafted with reference to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations as well as international practices in this area and the specific conditions of each member state were given full consideration. The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the SCO prescribes the privileges and immunities of the SCO, SCO officials, experts who are carrying out the SCO missions, representatives from member states and resident representatives of the permanent agencies of member states to the SCO.

        During the Tashkent Summit, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and SCO Secretary General Zhang Guangde signed the Agreement on the Host Country of the Secretariat between the People's Republic of China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The agreement stipulates the legal status of the Secretariat in China, the privileges and immunities as well as other issues related to the operation of the Secretariat.

        As important achievements of the organization in its initial period, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the SCO and the Agreement on the Host Country of the Secretariat between the People's Republic of China and the SCO will provide legal basis and guarantee for the organization to deepen and strengthen pragmatic cooperation after the termination of the initial period, which is undoubtedly of great significance to the improvement of SCO's institutional building and future development.