China, UK Agree to Strengthen Cooperation in Fight Against Terrorism

China and the United Kingdom have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of security, in particular, in the fight against terrorism, a joint communique said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, China's Secretary-General of the Central Commission on Political and Legal Affairs Wang Yongqing and the UK National Security Adviser Mark Lyall Grant co-chaired the first China-UK High Level Security Dialogue.

"On counter-terrorism, the UK and China agree in the face of ever more serious challenges for the international community in fighting terrorism that it is in both sides’ interests to develop their bilateral cooperation in counter-terrorism; in their anti-terrorism cooperation the two sides will recognize each others’ concerns about major security interests and develop pragmatic cooperation to tackle terrorist threats faced in common and individually," the communique read.

According to the document, the sides also agreed to develop coordination and share experience on the anti-terror fight. The sides agreed to hold discussions on combating cyber-crime and related matters through the mechanism of a China-UK security dialogue, as well as the China-UK annual working conference on organized crime, with the aim of sharing intelligence and experience.

The parties agreed to set up cooperation mechanisms to protect their citizens, diplomatic missions and economic interests abroad.

The sides reaffirmed commitment to reaching consensus on matters of mutual concern, including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and a number of other global and regional security issues, according to the communique.