“All member states of the organization recognize that Xinjiang is an inalienable part of China and what happened there was purely China’s internal affair,” Nurgaliev told Xinhua Thursday.

“As a statement issued on 10 July said that we endorse all measures the Chinese government has taken to protect social stability in the region and the measures, adopted according to law, can help restore calmness and order in the place,” he said.

“I’ve been to Xinjiang many times. The region is developing rapidly due to the rich oil and gas resources and other raw materials. To take full advantage of such resources, many modern facilities were built there, including the essential crude oil pipelines.”

He said the SCO was very satisfied with investment and trade between Xinjiang and the SCO’s member states, and expanding cooperation in the tourism sector and cultural fields between Xinjiang and neighboring regions.

“I believe Xinjiang will continue to play a significant role in trade and economic cooperation between China and other SCO member states, and between China and all its neighboring countries.”

The 5 July violence in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, led to the deaths of at least 192 people. More than 1,680 were injured.

The SCO is a permanent inter-governmental international organization with its secretariat based in Beijing. It was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.