Five years on, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will convene its sixth summit meeting on Thursday in Shanghai, its birthplace, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of its founding and the 10th of its prototype -- the Shanghai Five mechanism.

The Chinese business hub, which lends the regional group its name, will receive heads of all SCO states, namely, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The presidents of Mongolia, Pakistan and Iran and an Indian minister will attend the 2006 Shanghai summit.

The summit, though lasting for only one day, will certainly be a milestone that marks a new stage for the development of the rapidly growing regional group, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Deguang said ahead of the gathering.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Deputy Secretary-General Wilfrido. V. Villacorta of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will attend the summit as guests.

It was the first time that the SCO invited representatives of some international organizations that had ties with it to attend the annual summit.

At the 2006 summit, the heads of state from the SCO will review the organization's achievements in the past five years, outline objectives for future cooperation and exchange ideas on major international and regional issues.

The summit will pass an SCO declaration and endorse a series of documents, including one on building new security concept and one on information security, Zhang said.

Some 2 billion U.S. dollars worth of business contracts and loan agreements are expected to be inked on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

Those deals will involve a highway project connecting Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, two high-voltage electricity lines in Tajikistan, a cement plant in Kyrgyzstan with a daily production of 2,500 tons, and a hydropower station in Kazakhstan.

Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Yu Guangzhou described the deals as "big presents" for the SCO summit.

To boost cooperation, the SCO will also host an industry and business forum and announce the official establishment of an entrepreneurs council. During the summit, an SCO art festival will also be held.

Looking back on the past five years, Zhang said the SCO had completed its institutional construction and legal framework. "The necessary systems and mechanisms are all in place, creating conditions and laying a sound foundation for promoting regional stability and economic development," he said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao believes that the "Shanghai Spirit" characterized by mutual trust and benefit, equality, respect for cultural diversity and a desire for common development is the driving force behind the SCO's progress.

Against the backdrop of complicated world situations and numerous regional challenges, the SCO states have reached consensus on further strengthening cooperation within the SCO framework and working jointly for the well-being of all peoples in the region.

The SCO chief said the organization would devote itself to regional economic integration. "Our present goal is to realize the free flow of commodities, capital, technology and services in the region within 20 years," he said.

The regional body, established here on June 15, 2001, is the first international organization with its headquarters in China. In 2004 and 2005, the SCO accepted Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran as observers.

SCO member states cover an area of over 30 million square kilometers, or about three-fifths of Eurasia, with a population of 1.489 billion, nearly a quarter of the world's total.