Police forces of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) andChina teamed up in a bid to tackle terrorism and transnational crimeduring a security forum held in Nanning city, China, on September 12–13.

Addressing the forum, Li Wei, Chinese Vice-Minister of PublicSecurity, said the established coordination was crucial for regionalsecurity.

Meanwhile, Zhu Lin, Associate Professor at theInstitute of China's Armed Police Forces, informed the participants thatterrorists have now expanded their attacks from targeting police forcesand governments to civilians, including international tourists.

Today’s information and communications technology enabled criminals toanonymously access personal information and steal people’s identities,he added.

Zhu Lin pushed for a long-term cooperation mechanismthat facilitates the mutual exchange of information, thus enabling thecoalition’s police forces to prevent terrorism and other serious crimes.

Some 120 representatives from ASEAN’s ten member states and China, the host nation, participated in the event.

The Global Terrorism Database shows that terrorist attacks on Chinaand ASEAN members increased fourfold in the last ten years.-VNA