• Source:JND
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SCO Summit 2025: China will host the SCO Summit, its largest-ever edition, in the port city of Tianjin from August 31. The leaders of over 20 nations, including India, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and a range of Southeast Asian states, will attend the two-day diplomatic summit, described as a critical point for regional cooperation and strategic talks.

In a gesture that marks Beijing's emphasis on innovation and technology, organisers have unveiled a humanoid robot Xiao He, specially tasked to help thousands of journalists who are reporting from the summit. Xiao He will offer multilingual assistance, real-time information access, and interaction facilities for journalists from all over the world.

Xiao He: A Humanoid AI Assistant

Interacting with ANI at the Media Centre prior to the summit, the humanoid robot presented itself as a "cutting-edge AI assistant" specifically created for the 2025 SCO Summit in Tianjin. "I am Xiao He, a cutting-edge humanoid AI assistant developed for the 2025 Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin. I am a highly specialized service robot that supports multilingual assistance, real-time information processing, and protocol-adherent interaction functionality," Xiao He informed ANI.

With upgraded emotional awareness algorithms, adaptive learning modules, and large knowledge bases, Xiao He is designed to facilitate clear communication between foreign media, domestic press corps, summit organisers, and international representatives. The robot has been trained in Chinese, Russian, and English to meet the main requirements of the summit's global audience by the developers. The robot emphasised its working concepts as "cultural neutrality, factual precision and continuous optimisation", qualities that, organisers assert, will optimize efficiency in one of the most densely populated diplomatic conferences of the year.

Leaders Convene Despite Global Scrutiny

The SCO Media Centre, now officially open in Tianjin, is set to host close to 3,000 journalists from all corners of the globe. Alongside state-of-the-art technical facilities, press areas and live broadcast setups, Xiao He will serve at the integrated service desk, greeting visiting journalists and assisting them with real-time updates on summit schedules, logistics, and cultural programmes. According to ANI’s report from the venue, Xiao He also detailed some of the arrangements, “Key arrangements include designated areas for foreign and domestic media. The event will showcase cultural activities like Tianjin Yangliuqing woodblock prints and traditional craftsmanship demonstrations in the Intangible Cultural Heritage Interactive Experience Zone.”

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The SCO Summit, founded in 2001 with China and Russia as founding members, has grown into one of the world's largest regional organizations. Its current members are China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Iran. Belarus, Afghanistan, and Mongolia continue to be observer states, but Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, and Vietnam have also dispatched representatives this year, which indicates China's expanding diplomatic outreach. The key leaders confirmed for Tianjin include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkia,n and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

PM Modi, who is on a two-day official tour of Japan, will land in China for the summit and is also set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines. In a tweet following his trip to Tokyo, the Prime Minister stated, "Productive outcomes during a productive visit. May India-Japan friendship scale newer heights in the times to come!"

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This year's SCO Summit is being termed not just as the largest assembly of member states but also as a forum where China is exhibiting its technological capabilities. The use of Xiao He is the first instance where a humanoid AI has been tasked with official media support work at such a high-profile global gathering in the country. The mix of state-of-the-art robotics, cultural exhibitions, and high-level political discussions mirrors Beijing's desire to show a fusion of tradition and modernity. The summit will run through September 1, but its debates and side talks are set to shape regional security, trade, and connectivity policies across Eurasia for decades to come.