"East Turkistan" terrorist forces pose a grave threat to security and stability in China and the whole region, and combating these forces is an important part of the international fight against terror, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Friday.

Speaking at a meeting of foreign ministers at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Li said China expects to strengthen cooperation with other CICA member countries to combat "East Turkistan" insurgents.

The fight against terrorism has a long way to go and entails strengthened international cooperation, Li added.

Conventional and unconventional security threats, such as terrorism, separatism, extremism, regional conflict, arms and drugs muggling, still threaten peace in Asia, Li said.

Li called on CICA members and other Asian countries to adopt a new security concept that is characterized by mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and coordination and to abandon old concepts focusing on unilateral security.

The Chinese foreign minister also said China's development will bring huge opportunities for Asia and the world and China urges Asian countries to deepen cooperation in economy and security.

He said China is ready to develop ties on an equal footing with other Asian countries and to expand mutually beneficial cooperation with them.

The country is willing to push forward all-round regional and sub-regional cooperation within Asia and is committed to building a peaceful, secure, cooperative and prosperous Asia, Li said.

Li said China's peaceful development has brought and will continue to bring enormous opportunities for Asia and the whole world.

CICA member countries should deepen economic and trade cooperation, facilitate trade and investment, open markets to each other and promote regional economic integration, he said.

CICA, a forum aimed at increasing security in Asia, was proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the 47th UN general assembly in 1992. Its 16 members include China, Russia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Israel, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, India and Palestine. Thailand on Thursday became its 17th member.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2004)