President Xi Jinping is visiting Serbia, Poland and Uzbekistan to improve ties with Central and Eastern Europe. (Photo : Getty Images)
China and Uzbekistan recently reached consensus on stepping up their anti-terrorism drive, China Daily reported.
The countries' leaders pledged to deepen this commitment as the world sees continuous rise in the number of extremists in Central and Western China.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Uzbekistan, he discussed with Uzbek head Islam Karimov their plans on how to combat cross-border organized crime while sustaining stability and peace in the region.
Apart from this, the two nations also jointly agreed in fostering their energy cooperation, including securing the safety of the gasoline pipelines in China-Central Asia.
Xi's recent trip was his second state visit since 2013.
"China and Uzbekistan share concerns about terrorism, with extremists in the two countries sometimes conspiring together," the article said.
Uzbekistan is also regarded as a key point for terrorists who want to penetrate the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang Uyghur.
In a news briefing, Karimov said that his country is strongly supporting China's anti-terrorism, separatism and extremism campaign.
Hailing China as a "great neighbor," the Uzbek leader also urged to enhance their ties with Beijing.
Prior to Xi's state visit, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and China's Ministry of Public Security have already inked two deals forging deeper cooperation against organized crime, drug-trafficking and ensuring cross-border pipelines' security.
Public security vice-minister Huang Ming earlier remarked that there is an increasing global terrorist activity, citing that the Sino-Uzbek terrorism ties must be further strengthened.
Huang added that the nations should improve law enforcement cooperation as well as information exchanges.
Uzbekistan is also seen as one of China's most vital partners in various global issues, as pointed out in a China.org.cn column by Tim Collard, a former British embassy official in China.
Uzbekistan has been hosting the anti-terrorism headquarters of the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Over the years, the SCO has implemented and signed a number of deals, which include the Shanghai Convention on cracking down on extremism, terrorism and separatism.
