URUMQI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region decided to increase compensation by 200,000 yuan (29,300 U.S. dollars) for the families of innocent civilians killed in the July 5 riot in the regional capital Urumqi.

    Bereaved families would get a total of 420,000 yuan for each fatality, said Nur Bekri, chairman of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government on Monday.

    The riot has left 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured.

    Donations for the victims have exceeded 270 million yuan (39.5 million U.S. dollars), local financial authority and charity organizations said Monday.

Business of securities brokerages returning to normal in Urumqi

    URUMQI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Securities brokerages in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said Monday that their business was returning to normal with the restoration of stability in the past two weeks after the deadly riot in this western city.

    At around 10 a.m. Monday, dozens of investors had come to the outlet of Changjiang Securities on Guangming Road, preparing to do some trading. Full story

Donations for Xinjiang riot victims exceed 270 million yuan

    URUMQI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Donations for the victims of the Urumqi riot July 5 have exceeded 270 million yuan (39.5 million U.S. dollars), local financial authority and charity organizations said Monday.

    The Ethnic Unity Fund, set up by the government of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region after the riot, has received 226.8 million yuan from enterprises, public institutions and individuals in and outside the region as of 5 p.m. Monday, according to the Xinjiang regional department of finance. Full story

Xinjiang top political advisor: ethnic unity most important for regional development

    URUMQI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The first and foremost prerequisite for Xinjiang's fast development is ethnic unity, said the region's top political advisor on Monday.

    "Greater efforts must be made to boost ethnic unity in Xinjiang after the July 5 deadly violence," said Ashat Kerimbay, chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the region's top political advisory body.Full story 


Xinjiang official: foreign trade growth still possible 

    URUMQI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- The top commerce official in Xinjiang said here on Monay that it was possible the northwestern China region to reach its target of a 25-percent growth in foreign trade despite the global economic downturn and the July 5 riot.

    "It's not easy, but we still have chance to realize the foreign trade target of 27.8 billion U.S. dollars this year," said He Yiming, director of the regional commerce department, quoted by Monday's local newspaper Morning Post.Full story 

Special Report: Urumqi Riot