Securities brokerages in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region said on Monday that their business was returning to normal with the restoration of stability in the past two weeks after the deadly riot in this western city.

At around 10:00 AM on Monday, dozens of investors had come to the outlet of Changjiang Securities on Guangming Road, preparing to do some trading.

"Most of the citizens have felt the city has resumed normal social order," said an investor surnamed Liu. "Otherwise, there would not be so many people here."

Zhou Xili, a clerk in charge of client services, said the outlet's business had reached about 80 percent of that prior to the July 5 riot. The violence has left 197 people dead and more than 1,600 injured.

The opening of new accounts and fund management services had been affected a lot by the incident, according to Zhou.

"It is obvious that restoration of business is much faster than what the staff had expected," said Zhou. "The resumption of investment activities also indicates that the social order is improving thanks to the government's effective measures aimed at maintaining stability."

Chen Liang, general manager of the brokage business of Hong Yuan Securities, the biggest security company in Xinjiang in terms of the number of clients, said the company's trading were down 40 percent in the first week after the riot, compared with normal weeks.

But in the second week, the business was just down 7 percent, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2009)