Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is striving to reach the targeted GDP growth rate of nine percent this year despite the July 5 riot that killed 197 people, the region's Communist Party chief said Sunday.

Wang Lequan, secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks after attending a picture exhibition on the riot.

The region is still concentrating its efforts on economic growth, and the economic target will not change, Wang said.

He admitted, however, that the fight to maintain stability in Xinjiang will be more arduous after the July 5 riot, while the region's development should not be hampered.

The riot exposed the nature of hostile forces and the ringleader was Rebiya Kadeer and the "World Uygur Congress", Wang told Xinhua.

They fabricated stories after two Uygur migrant workers died in a brawl in the southern Guangdong Province on June 26, and fanned ethnic hatred which led to the tragedy in Xinjiang, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2009)