UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said Thursday that efforts must be made to prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations from undermining the hard-won security situation in Syria.

"The international community should strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, harmonize standards, crack down on all terrorist groups listed by the Security Council and prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations from undermining the hard-won security situation," Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said at a Security Council meeting on the political situation in Syria.

He warned that "there is a tendency for terrorist groups in Idlib to raise their heads, which threatens Syrian security and stability and hinders reconstruction and the return of refugees."

Geir Pedersen, special envoy of the UN secretary-general for Syria, who assumed his position on Jan. 7, provided his first briefing to the Security Council on the political situation in Syria. The meeting took place two weeks before the eighth anniversary of the start of the Syrian conflict.

Pedersen briefed the council on his consultations with key actors on Syria, including the government in Damascus and the opposition's Syrian Negotiation Commission in Riyadh.