China's Vice Minister for Public Security Meng Hongwei was elected  on November 10 as President of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

He is the first Chinese official to take the post.

Meng Hongwei took over the position from his predecessor Mireille Ballestrazzi from France after being elected at the closing ceremony of Interpol's 85th General Assembly.

The President of the Interpol heads its Executive Committee and is elected by the General Assembly for a period of four years. As the new president of the organization, Meng's duty includes chairing meetings of the Executive Committee which ensures the implementation of decisions made at the General Assembly.

During his speech, Meng promised to work together with all member states of Interpol to build the international group into a stronger platform for global police cooperation.

According to Meng, he will promote more effective global police cooperation, better support the capacity-building efforts of police in all member countries, improve the coordination among regional and global police forces with a view to building a safer world and a more efficient Interpol that is beneficial for all member states.

Founded in 1914 and now headquartered in Lyon, France, Interpol is the second largest international organization after the United Nations with 190 members.

By establishing I-24/7 global police communications system, a large scale database for stolen and lost travel documents, and coordinating global and regional joint law enforcement operations on regular basis, Interpol has played an important role in deepening global police cooperation and combating transnational criminal offences.

The People's Republic of China (PRC) became a member state of Interpol in September 1984. Since then, PRC has been committed to developing practical and effective cooperation with Interpol in all aspects. The 86th General Assembly of Interpol will be held in China in 2017.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2016)