Three female dancers in the night market in Hotan. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/GT

Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has signed a cooperation anti-terrorism agreement with Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to learn from the latter's experiences in promoting social stability.

Zhang Yunsheng, a Communist Party of China chief from Ningxia, went to Xinjiang to study and investigate how Xinjiang fights terrorism and legally manages religious affairs, Ningxia Daily reported on Tuesday.

During his trip, Zhang visited Xinjiang's stability maintenance and counter-terrorism center and local public security bureaus where new technologies like big data have been deployed in the fight against terrorism. The two autonomous regions signed cooperation agreements against terrorism.

Zhang, who is also the head of Xinjiang service and management coordination group in Ningxia, noted that the progress Xinjiang achieved is worth learning.

A unique relationship exists between Ningxia and Xinjiang, which bear similarities in culture, religions and customs due to the connection of the ancient Silk Road, Zhang said.

"That's why Ningxia went to learn from Xinjiang," Zhang said.

Li Wei, a Beijing-based counter-terrorism expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that Xinjiang has effectively curbed the threat of terrorism in recent years thanks to its continuous anti-extremism efforts over the past years.