China actively pushes forward int'l cooperation against drugs

BEIJING - China is actively pushing forward international cooperation against drugs as its security chief embarks on a whirlwind trip to Central Asia, Europe and the United States.

A high-level session will be held at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York from Tuesday to Thursday to review global progress and challenges regarding drug problems.

Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun is expected to be among the heads of state and more than 40 ministers from around the world at the meeting.

Guo is also head of China's national anti-drug commission and public security minister.

The session will review the progress and discuss challenges in countering the world drug problem and in implementing the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem.

The world drug problem continues to present challenges to the health, safety and well-being of all humanity, said the draft outcome document, adding that the international community should "resolve to reinforce our national and international efforts and further increase international cooperation to face those challenges."

Recognizing the challenges of the drug problem, Guo had addressed the issue at a security meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as in talks with European security officials.

China was willing to enhance the cooperative mechanism with the other SCO members as part of security cooperation to safeguard regional stability, said Guo at a SCO meeting on Thursday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

On Friday, Guo met with Dutch Security and Justice Minister Ard van der Steur in The Hague, the Netherlands, where he also held talks with the European Police Office (Europol) Director Rob Wainwright on Monday.

Guo lauded the ever closer security cooperation between China and Europe and expressed a willingness to work with the European side to speed up a strategic cooperative agreement to curb international crime.

Meanwhile, van der Steur and Wainwright said it was their common wish to boost security cooperation with China, which they believed was conducive to their bilateral relations with the Asian country.

They hoped to intensify exchanges with China to promote cooperation in the battle against drugs, terrorism and other crimes.