In a shift from previous incidents of unrest, Chinese authorities have welcomed foreign media to cover last Sunday's ethnic riots in China's Xianjian region, but are still limiting communications.

Incidents that day have left 156 people dead.

The Chinese government has learnt a lot from incidents that have occurred recently in the cyber universe, both at home and abroad, said Zhou Bing, a political commentator in Hong Kong, according to the BBC.

However that openess is still limited, a journalist said.

NBC News correspondent Ian Williams, in Urumqi, told MSNBC today that it was difficult to get a breakdown of injuries between Han Chinese and Uighur.

And it could be that the Chinese doesn't (sic) want to give out too many details for fear that it could further inflame passions, he said.

On the state run Xinhua online newspaper, China said that as of Tuesday, more than 60 overseas media companies had sent journalists to Urumqi.

He said there are pretty strict controls on the Internet, mobile phones, and routes through which information would normally get out.

The press center set up by the goverment seems to be the only working, but very slow Internet link in the city, he said.

China