China plans to set up a coordinating mechanism to fight terrorism - the first of its kind in the country.

The action comes among its 14 northern provinces and autonomous regions.

Anti-terror officials at the provincial level attended a conference on Friday in Huhhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to discuss the plan, according to a Xinhua report.

With the increasing impact of international terrorism, China must not underestimate the threat though no large-scale terror attack has ever taken place in the country, Xinhua quoted an unnamed official from the State anti-terrorism office as saying.

The mechanism aims to build an anti-terror defence with the collaborative efforts of police, courts, prosecutors and national security departments.

Trans-regional anti-terror maneuvres will be held regularly and contingency plans drafted, said Li Wei, director of the anti-terrorism research centre of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

Details of the mechanism, expected to cover other parts of the country, have not yet been worked out.

"The establishment of the mechanism marks a step forward for China's anti-terrorism work," Li said.

Considering the complexity of the fight against terrorism, no country has set up a perfect anti-terrorism mechanism, Li noted.

"China should learn lessons from other countries, such as the United States and Britain, in this regard."

Trans-national anti-terrorism mechanisms have been set up between China, Russia and four other Central Asian countries under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

(China Daily July 17, 2005)