SHANGHAI, May 20 -- China and Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday pledged to strengthen cooperation in combating the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism.

The joint pledge was made when Chinese security chief Meng Jianzhu met with visiting Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev in Shanghai.

Meng, head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said he hoped that the two neighbors would cooperate in the fight against the "three evil forces" and cyberterrorism, and play a bigger role in safeguarding regional peace, security and stability.

Atambaev said his country is ready to work with China to strengthen cooperation in law enforcement and security and to combat the "three evil forces" to safeguard security and stability and promote common development in the two countries.

On Tuesday, Meng and Atambaev also attended a ground-breaking ceremony for a training base of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at a university in Shanghai that aims to boost judicial exchanges and cooperation among its members.

Atambaev is paying a state visit to China as guest of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Atambaev will also attend the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai.