BEIJING, July 3 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping commended China's Shandong Province and the city of Qingdao for successfully hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Noting that the summit was an international success, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, expressed appreciation for the officials and public who worked hard to organize the summit.

"The summit brought Qingdao and Shandong a new development opportunity," Xi said, urging relevant authorities to learn from the good experiences, promote good practices, and improve their works in all aspects to a new stage.

The 18th SCO summit was held in Qingdao on June 9 and 10, the first since the organization's expansion, the largest attended by the highest-level leaders, and the most fruitful since the organization's founding.