China to back Iran's membership in SCO: Official

China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai told reporters on Monday that Iran’s membershsip in the Organization, as an active observer, will be discussed in the upcoming meeting in Astana on July 7.

China's President Xi Jinping heading a delegation will attend the meetin, according to the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

Iran’s presence is important to Beijing and China would welcome and support its full membership in SCO, said the Chinese official.

SCO, established in 2001 and known as the Shanghai Five at the time, is a regional intergovernmental organization that currently has six members, namely, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The organization's members with a total population of 1.5 billion, cover an area of 30.18 million square kilometers (three fifth of Asia).

India and Pakistan have signed the memorandum of obligations on 24 June 2016 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to join the block as full members. Their membership is expected to be complete in the upcoming meeting.

Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Belarus are four observer states of the economic and political bloc.

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