New regulations designed to encourage ethnic solidarity and harmony in west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were created after an exhaustive public consultation, local legislators have told Xinhua.
Xinjiang is home to 22 million people of more than 40 ethnic groups including Uygurs, Han, Kazaks, Mongols and Tajiks.
Introduced on Jan. 1, the local law makes "promoting ethnic unity" one of the principal factors assessed in officials' performance reports and explicitly bans differentiated treatment when providing public services.
"Public places such as hotels, restaurants, train and bus stations, airports and markets shall provide equal treatment of all ethnic groups. Region, nationality, religious belief or folk customs shall not be used as reasons to discriminate or refuse to provide service in these venues," the regulation said.
People committing such offences will be fined as much as 10,000 yuan (1,560 U.S. dollars) and may be subject to further prosecution, it said.
Xinjiang has been convulsed by terrorist violence in recent years. Gerla Yisamudin, deputy chairman of the regional government, said that Xinjiang faces grave challenges in maintaining ethnic unity.
"External hostile forces are plotting to use Xinjiang's ethnic issues to disintegrate the region, while separatists and extremists are joining together to infiltrate and sabotage. Problems in social and economic development have further complicated the situation," he said.
Yisamudin said the new regulations are hoped to "provide a legal framework to counter acts that harm ethnic unity and help maintain social stability."
The law is expected to help form a more favorable environment to battle separatism by promoting solidarity, said Li Jianxin, an official in charge of legislative affairs at the standing committee of the regional people's congress, the local legislature.
The regulations, which encompass 60 provisions, encourages ethnic and social unity in a most extensive way, legislators said.
For example, it stipulates the role of parents or other guardians in nurturing and raising the awareness of ethnic solidarity and harmony among children.
The law drafting began in early 2015. Legislators held more than 170 consultations with over 500 members of the public, said Neyim Yasin, chairman of the standing committee of the regional people's congress.
"We spent more time and effort on making this law than any other law in Xinjiang," he said.
More than 40 revisions were made to the document to ensure it was clear, accurate and feasible, he said.
