Nur Bekri was re-elected chairman of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Thursday.

Nur Bekri, 52, was re-elected chairman of the regional government at the end of the first session of the 12th Xinjiang Regional People's Congress, the local legislature.

The statesman, a member of the Uygur ethnic minority, was born in Xinjiang, and he previously acted as mayor of the regional capital of Urumqi.

He graduated from the Political Science Department of the Xinjiang University in 1983.

Nur Bekri's re-election came at the same congress session where he showcased Xinjiang's double-digit economic growth for 2012 and vowed to pre-emptively strike at terrorists and separatists.

He said the region's goals include doubling per capita income by 2015 and tripling the regional GDP by 2020 based on figures from 2010.

The chairman also warned that the battle against separatists is still complicated in the region, which is home to many minority ethnic groups, particularly the Uygurs.

Nur Bekri was governor of Xinjiang in 2009 when it experienced riots and protests that left 197 people dead and about 1,700 others injured in Urumqi.

Xinjiang, which accounts for one-sixth of China's territory but lags behind other regions economically, has seen terrorist activity rise since the riots.

The government has blamed the "three evil forces" of separatism, extremism and terrorism for igniting religious clashes, promoting ethnic hatred and creating social violence.

(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2013)