Chinese President tells Xinjiang leaders to work for unity

URUMQI, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- President Hu Jintao told leading officials in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Tuesday to focus on reform and development as well as ethnic unity and stability, to build a "prosperous and harmonious socialist" Xinjiang.

Expressing gratitude to to armed forces, militia and police for their role in ending the violent July 5 riot in Urumqi, Hu said, "The key to our work in Xinjiang is to properly handle development and stability."

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R, front) talks with residents who are  having a training course during an inspection at a community in Wensu  County, Aksu, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on  Aug. 22, 2009. Hu paid an inspection tour to the region from Aug. 22  to Aug. 25. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said Xinjiang must stick steadfastly to the central tasks of economic development, maintaining social stability, and promoting ethnic unity and common prosperity among all ethnic groups.

On an inspection tour from Aug. 22 to 25, Hu visited villages, farms, communities, factories and barracks in Aksu, a predominantly Uygur area; Changji, a land port between China and Central Asian nations; Karamay, a major oil base; Shihezi, the headquarters of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; and the regional capital of Urumqi.