The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organization, the establishment of which was announced on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the mechanism of the Shanghai Five. The basic statutory document that fixes the goals and principles of the organization, its structure and main activities is the Charter of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that entered into force on September 19, 2003.