Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Saturday called for efforts to increase cooperation in regional security and economic matters among the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Speaking at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the SCO in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, Yang said that uncertainty and instability have been increasing and it would still take time for the world economy to fully recover.

He suggested that the SCO member states make efforts in line with the consensus reached by their heads of state to further enhance coordination of their policies and strategies on affairs of common interest.

The member states should boost security cooperation to safeguard reigonal stability, including stepping up the fight against extremism, separatism and terrorism, optimizing the model for cooperation in ensuring security for major international events and carrying on joint anti-terrorism exercises, Yang said.

Yang also called for bettering links among the SCO member states, boosting infrastructural construction, further facilitating trade and investment and expanding cooperation in sectors such as finance, transport, energy, telecommunications and agriculture amid the economic downturn.

China will try to make sure that the 10 billion U.S. dollars credit it extended to other SCO member states, a commitment made by President Hu Jintao last year at the Yekaterinburg summit, is used for the best, Yang said.

Yang and his counterparts from the SCO member states exchanged views and reached consensus on important regional affairs, including Central Asia security and stability, the international role of the SCO and its links with other multilateral organizations.

They signed the Joint Declaration on SCO/U.N. Secretariat Cooperation after the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

The foreign ministers also met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov.