For much of 2025, the global spotlight has been firmly on the start of Donald Trump’s second US presidency. Yet recent days have seen the focus shift to China with its hosting of the largest-ever Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, followed by a major military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Collectively, the SCO now accounts for around three-fifths of the Eurasian continent, nearly half of the world’s population, and over 20 percent of global gross domestic product.