The central government's decision to crack down on terrorists and improve livelihoods in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region will help bring security and prosperity, residents and analysts said.

Urumqi resident Zhao Jiepei, 28, mother of a 3-year-old boy, is confident the measures can help. "I think everyone like me wants their children to live in a stable and developed society," she said.

Adiljan Ablat, a professor of politics and public management at Xinjiang University, said, "The separatists, who seek independence for a so-called Eastern Turkestan, believe that once they gradually influence young people, they can achieve their goal of separating from China."