Premier Wen Jiabao said Monday that the people of west China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region should devote themselves to building a new type of relations between different ethnic groups.

"The various ethnic groups in the region should get together and develop a new type of socialist relationship of an equal, friendly and mutually beneficial nature," said Wen, who returned Saturday after concluding his visit to Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

"Good relations between ethnic groups is a precondition for the development and prosperity of the country's ethnic and frontier areas," he said.

Wen also called for the region to make more efforts to enhance ecological construction and environmental protection.

"The governments of all levels in Xinjiang should set and implement a scientific concept of development, which is part of our sustainable development strategy," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2004)