Terrorists in China prefer primitive weapons: report

Terrorists in China tend to use primitive weapons, such as knives and gasoline to commit mass murders, said Wednesday's Beijing Youth Daily citing a report on national security.

The report, jointly released on Tuesday by the Center for International Strategy and Security Studies under the University of International Relations and Social Sciences Academics Press, said terrorist activities are expanding to more Chinese areas with government agencies, military and police forces as their main targets.

According to the report, in 2013, seven out of the ten attacks that happened in China were aimed at political organs, including police stations, government buildings and even Tiananmen Square.

China's strict control over guns has forced terrorists to choose knives and gasoline, said Wu Shaozhong, an intelligence expert from the People's Public Security University of China. "But the lethality was not affected."

Compared to the last few years, terrorism in China is more "active", both in the number of attacks and in scale, said Wu.

The report also said that by integrating departments of intelligence gathering and diplomacy with terror fighting organizations, the national security commission may better deal with potential incidents in the future.

In April, President Xi Jinping presided over the first meeting of the national security commission, stressing that national security is "a matter of prime importance".

Xi, who heads the commission, said the country faces the most complicated internal and external factors in history, and urged the adherence to an overall national security outlook and explore a "national security path with Chinese characteristics".