China has urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strengthen their collective financial security and voice in the world as pressure mounts from the United States and its allies.

Without naming any country, President Xi Jinping told the SCO state leaders – many of them facing blanket sanctions and punitive tariffs from the US – that the organisation needed to speed up and achieve “real results” to betterprotect themselves from “hegemonic” bullying.

To that end, Xi suggested that the group, which is meeting in the northern port city of Tianjin, set upan SCO development bank – an idea that was first floated in 2010 but has gained new urgency with American sanctions and duties.

He said the lender should be set up “as soon as possible to provide strong underpinnings for security and economic cooperation among member states”.

Xi went on to outline the “historic achievements” the group has made over the past 24 years, in which it has become the world’s biggest regional organisation, accounting for nearly half the globe’s population and about a quarter of its GDP.

He said he hoped the SCO could become a major platform to advance multilateralism, collective security and protection from unilateral bullying.

The SCO – a largely security-focused bloc – comprises 10 members: Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.