China 's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Forces of Pakistan will hold an anti-terrorism exercise in the first half of August, military sources said in Beijing Thursday.

The exercise will be in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, northwest China's Uygur Autonomous Region, which is located on the Pamirs at over 4,000 meters, bordering Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The exercise is aimed to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries and armies, improve the capacity of jointly combating terrorism, and contain and crack down on the forces of separatism, extremism and terrorism, the sources said.

In 2002, China set the principle of gradual participation in multilateral military exercises to broaden its security cooperation with other countries. This principle was also put into practice by the frequent joint military exercises and high-level military cooperation.

The exercise will also help promote bilateral cooperation in non-traditional security field and maintain security and stability in the region, the sources said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2004)