The inauguration conference of the international alliance combating telecom and cyber fraud. Photo: Chinese Ministry of Public Security

China and other countries on Thursday established an international alliance aimed at combating cross-border telecom and cyber fraud in Lianyungang, East China's Jiangsu Province, with foreign participants hailing the initiative as an important step toward stronger intelligence sharing and coordinated global action against the rapidly spreading transnational security threat.

The alliance was established at a conference held on Thursday, bringing together representatives from 46 founding countries, 34 observer countries and four international organizations, including the United Nations and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

Representatives from China and other initiators and founding members of the alliance, including Vietnam, Laos, Kenya, Cambodia, Pakistan and Russia, delivered speeches at the conference, while an Interpol representative offered congratulatory remarks. 

Countries share the consensus that telecom and online fraud has become a global scourge, and that establishing a more focused, professional, efficient and action-oriented intergovernmental organization based on international conventions would be of practical significance for jointly combating telecom and online fraud and related crimes while protecting the safety and legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal entities and other organizations.

Participants spoke highly of China's initiative to establish the alliance and its significance for safeguarding global public security. 

China has been a strong supporter and partner of Interpol over the years, particularly in the fight against telecom fraud. A few years ago, the organization partnered with China to strengthen capacity building and coordinate operational activities against telecom fraud-related crimes, Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said.

Ouch Channora, Under-Secretary of State of Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Cambodia, told the Global Times that Cambodia highly praises China's initiative to establish the international alliance against telecom and online fraud, saying that China and Cambodia have already carried out extensive bilateral cooperation in combating such crimes. 

Channora said the alliance could also help curb transnational non-traditional security threats associated with telecom fraud, particularly crimes involving human trafficking.

China's experience in combating telecom and online fraud could provide useful lessons for other countries, he said, pointing particularly to cooperation between China and Cambodia. Such practices and cooperation mechanisms could also be applied in other countries facing similar challenges, Channora noted. 

The idea for the alliance, proposed by China last year, has now moved from concept to action, Nestor Roncaglia, former police chief of the Argentine Federal Police, told the Global Times.

Telecom fraud has become an increasingly global criminal enterprise, with young people and the elderly among the most vulnerable. Criminal networks may operate from one country or region while targeting victims thousands of miles away, making traditional borders increasingly irrelevant to law enforcement.

"Countries have borders, but cybercrime does not," Roncaglia said. "That is why governments need to build alliances and work together."