Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday met with visiting heads of state and leaders of international organizations attending the latest Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in the port city of Tianjin.

Xi welcomed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, Acting President of Myanmar Min Aung Hlaing, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Nepali Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli on Saturday afternoon.

During the meeting, Guterres had veiled criticism of the U.S. amid the challenges facing the United Nations.

"We see new forms of policy that are sometimes difficult to understand, that sometimes look more like a show than the serious diplomatic efforts, and in which business and politics seems sometimes also mixed," Guterres said.

In his meeting with Myanmar's Senior General Min Au Hlaing, who is acting president of the country, Xi called Myanmar an "important dialogue partner" of the SCO.

Xi said China “supports Myanmar in safeguarding its national sovereignty, security and development interests and in reconstruction post the earthquake."

Min Au Hlaing will also be one of the guests in attendance at Beijing's military parade next week.

SCO was established by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and later expanded to include members such as India, Iran, Pakistan and Belarus.

Afghanistan and Mongolia are observer states, and 14 other countries, mostly from Southeast Asia and the Middle East, serve as “dialogue partners.”

The country hosting the annual summit rotates every year.

The official Xinhua News Agency on Monday called the gathering the “largest-ever SCO summit in history” and said it would be used for “charting the blueprint for the bloc’s next decade of development.”

The summit comes just days before a massive military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, where China emerged victorious over its neighbor Japan.