Strategically located on the frontier of China's opening to Central Asia and beyond, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region continues efforts on counter-terrorism to create a safe environment, officials and experts say.



Gao Jianlong, director of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that "maintaining stability is the key to ensuring Xinjiang's development, which has also become a consensus for the whole society and has created a good environment for promoting the Belt and Road initiative."



Gao said that in an effort to be open while keeping terrorists from sneaking into the region, Xinjiang has strengthened border control and management to make sure no terrorists can get into the region.



Other measures include fighting against crimes and religious extremism, Gao said.



Xu Guixiang, deputy director of the publicity department of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang Committee, said Xinjiang is also educating people on counter-terrorism.



"Terrorism is not religious or ethnic issues. It's anti-human and anti-society… the government is focused on improving people's lives in Xinjiang, which makes more people love the country… more people have realized the harm terrorism brings, which has become the social foundation of counter-terrorism," Xu said.



Xinjiang is strategically located to promote the Belt and Road initiative in the center of the Eurasian region, said Wang Yanwen, an official from the Human Rights Affairs Bureau of the China State Council Information Office.



Xinjiang has seized the opportunity of the Belt and Road initiative and is implementing reforms, including the solidarity of different ethnic groups, social development and people's livelihood, Wang said, adding that Xinjiang has become an important window to China's opening to the West.



It has been five years since China proposed the Belt and Road initiative, and during the period, more than 100 countries and regions and international organizations have supported and joined it, Wang said.



Tian Wen, a member of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Party Committee, said that "the Xinjiang region has also strengthened cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road route, including building railways with neighboring countries, enhancing cultural exchanges and speeding up financial cooperation."



The Kashgar and Horgos economic development zones have taken shape and the Chinese-supported zone of the China-Kazakstan Horgos Frontier International Cooperation Center and the comprehensive bonded zones in Kashgar, Alataw Pass and Urumqi are under operation, Tian noted.



While ramping up efforts on economic development under the Belt and Road initiative, Xinjiang has also promoted counter-terrorism education.



