The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum on People-to-People Friendship, as well as the Forum on Friendship Cities, officially kicked off in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on June 15. 

Shen Yueyue, vice-chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said in her keynote speech that the SCO has always prioritized friendly cooperation and has blazed a trail of friendship that meets the development needs of member states. 

Shen, also chairperson of the Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation Commission of the SCO (GNFCC SCO), noted that China has always adhered to the implementation of the consensus of the heads of member states, strengthening people-to-people friendship and connectivity to achieve common development and build a community with a shared future for mankind. 

She called on participants of the forum to become practitioners of the "Shanghai Spirit", inheritors of friendliness for future generations, and promoters of common development, tolerance and mutual learning. 

The forum was jointly hosted by the GNFCC SCO, the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Shandong provincial government.