China and Russia will hold their first joint anti-terrorism drill in the Far East area of Russia next year, Xinhua News Agency quoted Russian Deputy Interior Minister Nikolai Ovchinnikov as saying on Friday in Moscow.

But details of the exercise, such as duration, location, participants and size, have not yet been fixed, according to Ovchinnikov.

Police of the two countries are preparing for the exercise in Russia, sources said.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Public Security of China will be invited to inspect an anti-terror drill in New Siberia late this month, the China News Service reported.

Ahead of this, senior Chinese police officials observed a similar exercise in southern Russia this April.

Joint campaigns to fight against global terrorism are a major part of the 2006-07 co-operation plan signed by China's Ministry of Public Security and the Russian Interior Ministry.

Ovchinnikov said he believed that the upcoming drill will play a significant role for both parties and both parties can gain experience from it.

"Substantial co-operation on police affairs" between the two countries also includes the fight against cross-border organized crime and smuggling, as well as personnel training and information exchange, he added.

China and Russia began to conduct police co-operation in 1993 and signed an official co-operation agreement in 2003.

Meanwhile, China and Russia also carry out anti-terror co-operation under the framework of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization.

In July Zhou Yongkang, China's public security minister, expressed similar views to his Russian counterpart during a visit to Moscow. He said the two countries share a common interest in fighting against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

(China Daily 09/04/2006 page2)