Terrorism, violent crime posed challenge in 2013

Terrorism and violent crime have become frequent, and they seriously affected social stability last year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in a report on Monday.

In 2013, terrorism-related crime was still the key factor that threatened people's safety and disturbed the country's public order, according to an annual report by the academy on China's rule of law.

As international terrorism unfolded last year, terror attacks in western areas of China, especially in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, also became frequent and serious, said Ji Xiangde, a researcher at the academy's Institute of Law.