President Hu Jintao told leading officials in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Tuesday to focus on reform and development as well as ethnic unity and stability, to build a "prosperous and harmonious socialist" Xinjiang.

Expressing gratitude to to armed forces, militia and police for their role in ending the violent July 5 riot in Urumqi, Hu said, "The key to our work in Xinjiang is to properly handle development and stability."

Hu, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), said Xinjiang must stick steadfastly to the central tasks of economic development, maintaining social stability, and promoting ethnic unity and common prosperity among all ethnic groups.

On an inspection tour from Aug. 22 to 25, Hu visited villages, farms, communities, factories and barracks in Aksu, a predominantly Uygur area; Changji, a land port between China and Central Asian nations; Karamay, a major oil base; Shihezi, the headquarters of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; and the regional capital of Urumqi.

Hu had meetings with military and hospital personnel, as well as local officials and religious representatives.

He visited Zhao Li, the widow of Wan Jingang, a policeman who was killed by rioters in Urumqi on July 5 and promised assistance from the government if her family got into any difficulty.

He assured villagers and herding families that more efficient measures would be taken to support ethnic minorities.

Hu was accompanied by Politburo members Wang Lequan, Communist Party chief of Xinjiang, and General Guo Boxiong, vice chairman ofthe CMC, as well as Secretariat members Ling Jihua, head of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, and Wang Huning, director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee.