China's Xinhua news agency reports that the local Communist Party chief of the northwestern city of Urumqi, Li Zhi has been sacked and replaced by Zhu Hailun. The replacement of the senior city official follows several days of rioting by ethnic Han Chinese in which five people were killed.

Han Chinese claim that hundreds of syringe attacks have been carried out in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, over the past few months. They blame the indigenous Uighur for the attacks. In July, unrest between Han Chinese and the mainly Muslim Uighur left nearly 200 people dead.

Around half the population of Urumqi consists of native Uighur, while an equal number of inhabitants are Han Chinese, most of whom have immigrated to the region over the past few decades.