BEIJING, July 4. /TASS/. Member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization can achieve lasting total peace in the region and worldwide through mutual understanding, SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming said.

"Amid the ongoing complex changes, by strengthening strategic interaction, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation among member states, working together to overcome external challenges, we can achieve lasting and total peace, stability and prosperity in the region, and even globally," he said at the SCO summit in Astana.

Zhang Ming said the development and progress of the SCO "in the past, present and future have been and will be driven by the 'Shanghai spirit.'"

The official noted that the modern-day world is undergoing profound and complex changes. "The SCO faces not only new threats and challenges but also new opportunities, and the peoples of our member countries place great hopes on the organization," he said.