China, US to enhance cooperation in law enforcement, cyber security

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China and the US on Wednesday agreed to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement and cyber security, as officials of the two sides held their first dialogue in this field in Washington DC.

The meeting was co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun, also minister of public security; US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan; Attorney General Jeff Sessions; and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke.

During the meeting, the two sides hailed the cooperative achievements made in law enforcement and cyber security and agreed to enhance cooperation to crack down on corruption, cross-border crimes, hunting fugitives and retrieving illegal assets.

Chinese State Councilor Guo Shengkun (R), also minister of public security, shakes hands with US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Washington DC, October 4, 2017. /People’s Daily Photo‍

The dialogue was arranged after the Mar-a-Lago meeting in Florida between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in April.

The two countries vowed to make full play of the mechanism while preparing for rich outcomes of President Trump's upcoming visit to China in November.

Guo said this dialogue is one of the high-level joint dialogue mechanisms between China and the US, and the two sides should work together to make contribution to global security and the construction of a universal safe human destiny community.

The US officials said the US and China face common threats and share common interests in law enforcement and cyber security, and Washington is willing to enhance cooperation with Beijing on the extradition of illegal immigrants and individual cases.

China has been stepping up its efforts to hunt economic fugitives and corrupt officials who fled overseas. The country in 2015 issued a list of red notice fugitives including about 100 people. By the end of this August, over 40 of them have returned, either turning themselves in or through extradition.

Another top issues discussed at the dialogue is China's newly-passed Cybersecurity Law.

Taking effect on June 1 this year, the law mainly targets two areas. It bans online service providers from illegally collecting and selling users' personal information and data. The law also stipulates that Internet service providers should better monitor information made public by their users. It requires the providers to immediately stop the spread of information, should it be deemed illegal.

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