Vice-President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to improve mutual trust and cooperation for regional stability and world peace.

Xi said the challenges and threats, including terrorism, transnational crimes, drug trafficking and cyber crimes, bring new challenges to regional security and stability, as well as to the development of the organization's member states.

"It also means a new opportunity for promoting and deepening security cooperation," Xi told the Security Council secretaries of the member states.

The SCO, founded on June 15, 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

China will be the presiding country of the intergovernmental organization this year.

Xi said the member countries should strengthen strategic mutual trust, perfect the cooperation mechanism, look to the future and enlarge cooperation with the international community to build the organization as a platform for maintaining regional stability and promoting world peace.

The seventh session of the security council secretaries on Wednesday and Thursday was the first of a series of conventions - including a supreme court presidents' summit and a presidents' summit - that will be held under the SCO's framework.

State Councilor Meng Jianzhu said members urgently needed to improve their security cooperation as the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism were still active and were threatening the security and stability of the member nations, as well as the region.

In particular, a crackdown on Internet terrorism and Internet crimes should be resolutely carried out, Meng added.

"The member countries will prevent and address traditional and non-traditional security threats together," he said.

On Thursday, a working meeting was convened in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to address the issue of stability in the region, according to the Xinjiang Daily.

Zhang Chunxian, Party secretary of Xinjiang, said that the anti-separation struggle will continue, and that containing and preventing violent and terrorist activities will be the focus of their work on the current stage, the newspaper said.

Members on Thursday also reached consensus that they will improve the organization's emergency mechanism, boost cooperation to ensure security of large-scale events and joint projects, and safeguard peace and stability of border areas.

Russian Ambassador to China Sergei Razov told China Daily that the member states faced new challenges.

"So the key agenda item and the agreement that we reached in the meeting was to improve the situation in the region by making necessary adjustments."

He spoke highly of China's contribution to the organization, adding that Russia holds "positive attitude" toward the development of the organization under China's presidency and in the future.

"No matter how the Russian and Chinese leadership line-ups may change this and next year, the cooperation in areas such as counterterrorism and drug control between the two countries on international platforms, including the SCO, will go further," he said, "because all sorts of political forces, be they in or out of the Russian parliament, have a common understanding that Russia should develop a strategic partnership with China."

Beijing will host the 12th summit in June.

Contact the writers at chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn and wanghuazhong@chinadaily.com.cn