Stability in Xinjiang 'controllable and guaranteed': official

A man tends camels in the Taklimakan Desert, south of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Oct 29, 2013. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING -- Stability in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is "controllable and guaranteed," a local official said on Thursday.

Shi Dagang, deputy governor of the region, said at a press conference in Beijing that people can be reassured about traveling in Xinjiang, and that incidents of violence are very rare and isolated cases.

The remarks came two weeks after the second central work conference on Xinjiang, held in the wake of a series of bloody terrorist attacks in the region, including one in an open air market in the regional capital Urumqi that left 39 people dead and 94 injured on May 22.

At the central work conference, President Xi Jinping stressed that a priority of good governance is to improve livelihood so that people from all ethnic groups feel taken care of by the Party and state.

In a follow-up move, China's top economic planning body announced last week that it will work to implement a variety of support policies in employment, education and poverty reduction in the region.

According to Shi, in the past three years, public expenditures on livelihood projects, which added up to 482.9 billion yuan (78.5 billion U.S. dollars), accounted for more than 70 percent of the regional government's total public spending.

Chronic issues in housing, employment, education, social security and infrastructure are being solved, he added, noting that social stability and economic development are both indispensable and can reinforce each other.

Also at Thursday's press conference, authorities confirmed that the fourth China-Eurasia Expo will run from September 1 to 6 in Urumqi, with a focus on the construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt.

During the Expo, countries including Turkey, Belarus, Malaysia, India and Germany will put on events to boost investment and trade.

A textile-themed exhibition as well as a farm produce and food exhibition will also be held to help boost regional employment and promote Xinjiang's agricultural sector.