Beijing: President Xi Jinping on Thursday strongly condemned the killing of a Chinese hostage held by the dreaded Islamic State (IS) terror group, saying that "terrorists are the common enemy of humankind".
"China strongly condemns the brutality of the killing of Chinese national by the Islamic State extremists," Xi said in Manila while attending an APEC meeting state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Xi conveyed condolences to the victim Fan Jinghui's family saying, "Terrorists are the common enemy of humankind. China firmly opposes terrorists of all forms and resolutely cracks down on any crimes that challenge the foundation of human civilisation".
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China had undertaken major efforts to save Fan, without specifying the actions taken.
"The Chinese side noticed the report and was greatly shocked," Hong said in a press release, adding the information had to still be verified.
The militant group had yesterday said it had killed a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage.
Earlier in September, the IS said it had captured a Chinese and a Norwegian hostage, who were identified by its English-language magazine Dabiq as Fan, a freelance consultant and Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad.
However, the group did not specify when or where the two had been captured.
The Foreign Ministry said then that the description given by the IS about Fan matches a Chinese missing abroad, adding that China is firmly opposed to violence against innocent civilians.
