China supports security cooperation within SCO

BISHKEK - The new Chinese leadership will give full support to law enforcement and security cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Chinese official said on Monday.

Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun said in an address at a secretarial meeting of SCO members' security councils that China's new leadership attaches great importance to the development of good neighborly and friendly relations with neighboring countries.

China is ready to keep close coordination and cooperation with all parties to contribute more to realizing long-term stability and common prosperity in the whole region, Guo said.

Kyrgyz Defense Council Secretary Busurmankul Tabaldiev told reporters  after the meeting that national security and new threats will be high on the agenda of the SCO.

Secretaries of the organization's security councils agreed that "it was necessary to carry on the active and purposeful fight against terrorism, separatism, extremism, drug trafficking, organized crime and cyber-crime," Tabaldiev said.

The SCO, an inter-governmental organization founded in 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.