BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie left here Tuesday for Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe to attend the defense ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

    Liang, also a state councilor, went there at the invitation of his Tajiki counterpart Sherali Khairulloev.

    The SCO, founded in Shanghai in 2001, comprises six member countries, namely China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It pledges to enhance security, trade, cultural, military and justice cooperation among member countries.