China will host the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Tianjin from 31 August to 1 September, according to a Foreign Ministry briefing. President Xi Jinping will chair the gathering, open an “SCO Plus” session and preside over a welcome banquet and a series of bilateral meetings. More than 20 heads of state and government and the leaders of 10 international bodies are expected, making it the largest SCO summit since the bloc’s founding. Confirmed attendees include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin said the summit will adopt a Tianjin Declaration and a package of cooperation documents intended to chart the organisation’s next phase of “high-quality development.” Xi is also expected to announce new Chinese initiatives to deepen security, economic and cultural collaboration within the grouping. Separately, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Xi is unlikely to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders summit scheduled for 26-28 October in Kuala Lumpur, with Premier Li Qiang expected to take his place. The absence would eliminate prospects for a much-anticipated meeting between Xi and U.S. President Donald Trump on the event’s margins.