Zhou Yongkang (C), member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, visits Aygul, an injured woman of minority group, at a military hospital in Urumqi on July 9 (XINHUA)

The Chinese government and the Communist Party of China (CPC) will severely punish the outlaws in the Xinjiang riot, and restore normal social order in the region as soon as possible, senior Chinese leader Zhou Yongkang said on Thursday.

Authorities would take stability as their top priority at hand, and crack down hard on violence, in accordance with laws to protect the lives and property of people of all ethnic groups, and safeguard ethnic unity, said Zhou, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.

At least 156 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in the riot on Sunday in Urumqi, capital city of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

When visiting civilians injured in the riot Thursday afternoon at a military hospital, Zhou Yongkang promised that violent outlaws in the deadly riot would receive severe punishment in accordance with China's laws, and that the normal order would be restored.

He urged medical workers to provide better treatment to the injured, and save the lives of those in serious conditions "at all cost".

Zhou also called on troops and police officers on duty in Urumqi to enforce the laws justly, and "crush any attempt by hostile forces from home and abroad".

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2009)