Recently, a report in the state media claimed that over 200 people to be put on trial this week, over recent deadly ethnic unrest in the area, have been denied a trial date by the government in northwest China's Xinjiang region on Tuesday.

It was highlighted by the state-run China Daily, on its front page Monday that the trials are being prepared by the People's Intermediate Court in the regional capital Urumqi, amid tight security.

Li Hua, an official at the Xinjiang government media office, said: "At present, there is no scheduled date for the trial. I don't know how China Daily got that information, but it's not true. We will announce it to the media when there is a trial."

In the beginning of July, nearly 197 people were killed in a clash between members of the largely Muslim Uighur minority and Han Chinese. It was the worst ethnic unrest to hit the country in decades.

Furthermore, the Chinese Daily also gave a figure that the number of defendants exceeded 200, which was again denied by Li. According to the earlier official statements, the number of people formally arrested was 83.

Li said: "We haven't received any official notice on a change in the number of the suspects. So currently, the number of suspects is still 83."

The China Daily had specified in its report published Monday that security will be stepped up in the area around the courthouse. The newspaper also quoted locals, who claimed that the trials - which would be open to the public - would be closely followed by them,