A Chinese envoy to the United Nations on Thursday strongly condemned the Islamic State (IS) group for killing a Chinese national and called for global cooperation in fighting terrorism.

The UN Security Council's strong condemnation of the murdering of the Chinese and Norwegian citizens reflects the consensus of the council members and the UN members as well as the firm resolve of the international community to combat all forms of terrorism, said Liu Jieyi, China's permanent representative to the UN.

Earlier on the day, the UN Security Council condemned "in the strongest terms" the "heinous and cowardly act" of the IS killing of Chinese citizen Fan Jinghui and Norwegian citizen Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad.

These crimes once again demonstrate the brutality of IS, the 15-nation council said in a press statement.

IS announced its killing of the Chinese and Norwegian hostages in the latest issue of its English-language magazine Dabiq. China confirmed the death of Fan earlier on Thursday.

Terrorism is the common enemy faced by all humanity, the Chinese envoy said, adding that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.

China strongly opposes all forms of terrorism and will continue to promote the international cooperation to resolutely crack down on any terrorist crime that challenges the bottom line of human civilization, he said.

Their capture was announced by IS through the magazine Dabiq in September.

The Chinese government went all out to rescue the hostage after learning of the kidnapping, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

The IS, however, ignored basic human morality and brutally killed Fan, he said.