On December 23, 2009, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei attended and addressed a reception hosted by the departing Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Bolat Nurgaliyev in Beijing.

He spoke highly of the achievements of the SCO's development in recent years and thanked for the efforts made by Secretary General Nurgaliyev and the staff of the Secretariat under his leadership for the organization's development. He said the Chinese government will continue to push for the SCO's development to promote good-neighborly friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation in this region.

Nurgaliyev thanked for China's great support to the SCO and its Secretariat over the years, pledging to as always pay close attention to the SCO's development.