China is playing a "very active role" in promoting cooperation among the countries of a Euro-Asian group in fighting money laundering and terrorism funding, officials said. China, a founding member of the Euro-Asian Group on Combating Money-Laundry and Financing of Terrorism (EAG), is playing a "very active role" promoting cooperation among EAG members, Director of the Bank of China's bureau in charge of countering money laundering, Ling Tao, said. The EAG, established in October 2004, also includes Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrghizstan and Tajikistan. "We always have an open, pragmatic attitude in multilateral and bilateral cooperation in the fight against money laundering," Ling was quoted as saying by 'China Daily.' China has also applied for membership at the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), a major intergovernmental organization launched in 1989 by the Group-7 Summit. China is waiting for the evaluation from the FATF after it sent an inspection team to the country in the middle of this month, a People's Bank of China official said. "China is working hard with other countries to fight laundering with an open mind and practical manner and expects to become a FATF member," the Press Trust of India quoted the official as saying. On the home front, Ling said China puts priority on improving its legal system as well as monitoring, analysis and law enforcement systems. Resources will also go towards building a professional team to fight money laundering, which is always linked to other crimes, he said.
