China announced on Wednesday that the government had approved a plan to recruit 5,000 elite police in Xinjiang to prevent future unrest, according to the official Xinhua news Agency.

The regional government said the move was in response to the deadly ethnic violence last July in which Muslim Uighurs clashed with members of China's Han majority.

It was the country's worst unrest in decades which left nearly 200 dead and more than 1,600 injured, according to the government.

Zhu Changjie, director of the regional public security bureau, was quoted as saying it would be the largest recruitment campaign of its kind in Xinjiang.

Besides the additional security measure, China has also been trying those arrested after the riots.

China has so far reportedly executed or sentenced to death 26 people over the unrest, including nine who have already been executed.

China