CHINA has asked Pakistan to take stern steps to root out extremist outfit East Turkistan Islamic Movement, reported BBC, quoting Pakistan Foreign Office sources on Tuesday. Using the diplomatic channel, Chinese President Hu Jintao conveyed a message to his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari. Several activists of the ETIM are hiding in Pakistans tribal areas and are operating from there. According to sources, the ETIM is involved in extremism and encouraging Chinese Muslims towards such activities in China. As per official document, Chinese President has expressed the hope that the cooperation between the two countries to root out terrorism would help in eliminating the outfit. The Chinese President has expressed his concerns over security of Chinese nationals working on different development projects in Pakistan. The Chinese government has also expressed uneasiness over security of its 3,000 citizens working at Shahra-e-Karakuram near Swat. China has feared that extremists could target Chinese to avenge military operation being launched against them by the Pakistani government. Hu Jintao hoped that the Pakistani government would take every step to ensure security of the Chinese. Following the request by China, the Interior Ministry has directed law-enforcement agencies of all the four provinces to beef up security measures for Chinese in their respective areas.