Xi’s Tianjin Power Huddle Puts Washington on Notice

China’s President Xi Jinping used a high-gloss summit in Tianjin to pitch a makeover of global rules with the “Global South” at center stage—flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and India’s Narendra Modi and more than 20 leaders from across Eurasia.

Kicking off the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) gathering, Xi urged members to “oppose hegemonism” and practice “true multilateralism”—a thinly veiled swipe at the US and President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz.

“Global governance has reached a new crossroads,” he said.

The optics did plenty of talking. Cameras caught Modi and Putin holding hands as they strode in to greet Xi; later, Modi hopped into Putin’s armored Aurus for a ride to their bilateral. Whether choreographed or not, the message was unmistakable: Beijing, Moscow, and New Delhi can project solidarity even as Washington leans on tariffs and sanctions.

What Beijing Put on the Table

• Money & banks: Xi floated an SCO development bank—a step toward payments that work around the US dollar—plus 2 billion yuan (~$280M) in grants this year and 10 billion yuan in loans via an SCO banking consortium.
• Tech & space: China will stand up an AI cooperation center for SCO members and invited partners to join its lunar research station.
• Framing: Xi pitched his latest umbrella concept—the Global Governance Initiative—as the platform to rewrite rules with non-Western countries in mind.

Putin praised the SCO for reviving “genuine multilateralism,” highlighting more trade in national currencies and calling for a new Eurasian security system that doesn’t let one country guarantee its safety “at the expense of others.”

Modi’s presence—his first China visit in seven years—doubled as a quiet reset with Beijing and a reminder to Washington that New Delhi has options. India and China remain buyers of Russian oil; US tariffs have pinched India more than China. Xi and Modi agreed the two giants are development partners, not rivals, even as their border dispute lingers.

Born as a regional security club, the Beijing-headquartered SCO (China, Russia, four Central Asian states; India joined in 2017) is expanding its ambitions. Xi also touted the group’s
“mega-scale market” amid the turbulence from US tariff policy. Still, the summit produced few concrete measures beyond financing pledges and institution-building talk.

Xi will cap the showcase with a military parade in Beijing, expected to feature China’s latest kit alongside Putin—and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s WWII surrender.

Behind the smiles are real fault lines: China–India mistrust over the border and Pakistan ties; Russia’s sanctions-hobbled economy; and competing visions of “multipolarity”—Beijing’s version curbing US dominance versus India’s preference for influence spread among many poles.

The Tianjin tableau wasn’t just a photo-op. It was Beijing’s bid to rally a non-Western bloc, dangle cash, tech and market access, and signal that in an era of tariffs and fractures, China intends to write more of the rules—with Russia and, at least optically, India in the frame.

With input from Reuters, the New York Times, and CNBC.