2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. On April 10, the Symposium on "the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Review and Outlook" was held in Lanzhou University. Experts and scholars from research institutions and universities such as the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Institute of International Studies, Peking University and Fudan University attended the symposium. The attendees discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by the SCO with the aim of promoting SCO's stability and development.

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, which established in China and named after Chinese cities. The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighborliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.

The symposium was jointly organized by the Institute for Central Asian Studies of Lanzhou University, Research Center for Shanghai Cooperation Organization of Lanzhou University and the School of Political and International Relations of Lanzhou University.