The latest terrorist attack in a busy street market in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that killed 31 people and injured more than 90 further emphasizes the serious need for the government to step up its drive against terrorism, according to security experts and analysts.

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The efforts being made seem not enough to get to the root cause of terrorism and to put an end to it, observed Ma Pinyan, a senior anti-terrorism researcher.

The number of terrorist attacks has increased in recent years and there is a great chance that more and more people had joined the terrorist ranks despite government's forceful repression of the activities of extremists.

Terrorism is based on religious extremism and extremists have been actively indoctrinating people, Ma said.

The terrorist attack that happened on Thursday morning is considered by the Ministry of Public security as an immensely grave terrorist act.

Ma said the timing of the attack which happened while China is hosting the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia seemed purposely planned to cause severe annoyance.

It is extremely important and urgent that a special counterterrorism law be passed, Ma said.

Terrorists are now exhibiting more focus and using more sophisticated methods in their attacks, according to Meng Nan, a researcher on Central Asian Studies at Xinjiang University.

Meng said China needs to cooperate with other countries in gathering information on terrorists based in China and abroad who have been spreading extremist activities through the Internet.

Patrols and security checks in public places which are the prime targets of terrorists must be seriously pursued, Meng said.

Everyone should be vigilant and should promptly report suspected terrorists to authorities, Meng added.

Dai Peng, a professor at People's Public Security University of China said that it is time for China to enhance its intelligence gathering capabilities at its borders and to resort to counterterrorism measures which includes cutting off the terrorists' source of funds and weapons.