Ahead of Xi's visit, China's Ministry of Public Security signed two agreements with Uzbekistan's Ministry of Internal Affairs on jointly fighting drug-trafficking and organized crime, and protecting the safety of cross-border pipelines.

Huang Ming, vice-minister of public security, said last week that global terrorist activities are increasing and terrorist attacks remain frequent, which makes cooperation between China and Uzbekistan on combating terrorism "a must".

The two countries should strengthen information exchanges, improve law-enforcement cooperation, and jointly fight terrorism, extremism and separatism, he said.

In recent years, the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization has signed and implemented a number of agreements, including the Shanghai Convention on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism.

It has also held regular joint counterterrorism drills, with Uzbekistan hosting the SCO's anti-terrorism headquarters.

Tim Collard, a former official at the British embassy in China, wrote in a column on China.org.cn, "In the political sphere, Uzbekistan has become one of China's most reliable supporters on global security issues, quite apart from the two nations' cooperation in the SCO forum."

Contact the writers at [email protected]