BEIJING, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The ninth summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is held in Russia's Ural city of Yekaterinburg. The following is a brief history of the organization.

    June 14-15, 2001 -- Presidents of the member states of the "Shanghai Five" -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- met for their sixth summit in Shanghai and announced Uzbekistan's accession to the organization.

    The six heads of state held the first SCO summit on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai and signed the Declaration of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, officially inaugurating the SCO.

    June 7, 2002 -- The second SCO summit opened in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg. The leaders of the six countries signed the Charter of the SCO to define the organization's development goals and institutionalize cooperation among member states.

    May 29, 2003 -- The leaders of the six SCO member states held their third summit in Moscow to discuss ways of meeting challenges and strengthening cooperation.

    At the summit, the leaders reached broad consensus on the institutionalization of the SCO and on some major international issues.

    The summit also approved the appointment of Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Deguang as the SCO's first secretary-general.

    June 17, 2004 -- The fourth summit meeting of the SCO took place in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

    During the summit, the presidents of the six SCO member states -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- formally launched the Regional Anti-terrorist Structure of the SCO, and pledged in a joint declaration to cooperate in fighting terrorism and coping with new security threats and in strengthening their economic and trade ties.

    During the summit, Mongolia was granted SCO observer status.

    July 5, 2005 -- The leaders of the SCO held their fifth summit in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, to discuss measures to strengthen unity and further cooperation in economy, security and people-related affairs.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered an important speech at the summit.

    The leaders agreed to grant SCO observer status to India, Iran and Pakistan. At the end of the summit, the heads of state issued a declaration on strengthening cooperation within the organization.

    June 15, 2006 -- The sixth SCO summit opened in Shanghai. During the summit, the six heads of state proposed a long-term plan for development of the SCO. They also issued a joint declaration on the fifth anniversary of the SCO, charting the course and identifying major tasks for the next-stage of development of the organization.

    Aug. 16, 2007 -- The seventh SCO summit was held in Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek. During the summit, heads of state of the six SCO members signed the Treaty on Long-term Good-neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, which they agreed that would give an impetus to deepening cooperation within the organization in all areas.

    Aug. 28, 2008 -- The eighth SCO summit opened in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe, during which SCO leaders reached new consensus on the development of the organization, cooperation between the member states, guidelines for mutual ties, as well as principles for external relations. They also exchanged in-depth views on major international and regional issues.