Top Russian and Chinese security officials discussed bilateral and regional law enforcement coordination during the Second International Security Conference on Wednesday.

Meng Jianzhu, Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security, agreed with Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev that joint efforts in fighting terrorism, drug and transnational organized crime had become an important component of China-Russia strategic cooperation.

Both countries were facing hard security situations and should further develop security coordination both at bilateral level and under multilateral mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Meng said.

He said China, as the current holder of the rotating SCO presidency, would continue to work with Russia and other SCO member states to improve the crisis prevention and response mechanism.

He also proposed establishing a bilateral inter-governmental coordination system for law enforcement, to strengthen cooperation in countering the "three evil forces" of separatism, terrorism and extremism, and to boost personnel training and exchanges.

Patrushev said Russia highly valued the Chinese proposals at the two-day security conference here, and was willing to build closer ties with China in maintaining regional security and stability.

The Chinese official also met with security officials from Afghanistan, Iran, the United States, Ukraine and other countries during the conference.

Representatives from more than 50 countries attended the conference and exchanged views on jointly countering all forms of extremism and cooperation on crises caused by ethic hatred, religious conflicts and racism.

(Xinhua News Agency September 22, 2011)