China has pledged to up its fight against terrorism in the wake of a deadly attack in Urumqi on late Wednesday, but a more important battle has to be fought on the fronts of unity and solidarity.

News of the terrorist attack in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has deeply unnerved the nation that has hardly recovered from a violent assault in Yunnan Province just two months ago.

According to latest figures, three people were confirmed dead and 79 injured, after mobs slashed people at the exit of the South Railway Station of Urumqi on Wednesday evening and set off explosives.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came just as Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a four-day tour of the region.

It is no coincidence that terrorists staged the attack at this time.

On Saturday last week before heading for Xinjiang, Xi said that China faced increasing threats to national security and warned of the dangers of terrorism at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

He ordered efforts "to resolutely stamp out the brazenness of the terrorists", adding that the Chinese public must build a "wall of bronze and iron" to fight terrorism, and "make terrorists like rats scurrying across a street, with everybody shouting 'beat them'".

Even during his Xinjiang trip, the president did not forget the importance of counter-terrorism, vowing to deploy a "strike-first" strategy in Xinjiang to deter enemies and inspire people.