On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping will ceremonially host leaders from Russia, India, Iran, Turkey, and twenty other countries in the Eurasian region at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, intended to present a new model of international relations centered on China amid escalating geostrategic tensions and increasing US tariffs.

At around 7 PM Sunday (11 AM GMT), the leader of the world’s second-largest economy will hold a ceremony in Tianjin (north China) to honor the summit participants, which will take place on Monday and marks the first since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Since Saturday, heads of state and government from about twenty countries and officials from nearly ten international organizations have been arriving in the large coastal city, a symbol of China’s economic dynamism.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Sunday morning away from the media, despite leading a large political and economic delegation, according to official Russian and Chinese media.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed Saturday on his first visit to China since 2018, reflecting the rapprochement between the two Asian giants. Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed him, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

A large number of bilateral meetings are expected on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation summit.

The summit is subject to strict security and military measures, with armored vehicles deployed on some streets and traffic cut off in large parts of Tianjin. Signs in Mandarin and Russian praise the “Tianjin spirit” and “mutual trust” between Moscow and Beijing.

This summit is the most important for the organization since its founding in 2001. It is held this year amid multiple crises directly affecting its members, from the US-China-India trade confrontation to the Russian war on Ukraine and the Iranian nuclear issue.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization includes 10 member states and 16 observer or partner states, representing nearly half the world’s population and 23.5% of global GDP. It is presented as a balancing power to NATO.

However, there are also disagreements within the organization. China and India, the two most populous countries in the world, compete for influence in South Asia and fought a deadly border clash in 2020; yet they are currently working to strengthen their relationship, especially amid US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on both countries.

Experts urge focusing on the image the summit will project rather than its tangible outcomes, which remain uncertain.