Casualties have been reported after an explosion at a railway station in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Wednesday evening.

The injured have been taken to hospital for emergency treatment, according to the publicity department of the regional committee of the Communist Party of China.

The explosion happened around 7:10 p.m at the exit of Urumqi south railway station as a train from Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan province, was arriving.

The blast was centered around some luggage left on the ground between the station exit and a bus stop on BRT route 1.

Police cordoned off all entrances to the station square after the blast and trains were suspended.

The station resumed normal operations around 9 p.m. The BRT1 route to the railway station has also resumed normal operations, said Yang Hongjun, general manager of Urumqi City High-Speed Public Traffic Company.

The company has strengthened security checks at bus stops, Yang told Xinhua late Wednesday.

The station is one of the three railway stations in the city, and the largest in Xinjiang. Xinjiang intercity railway lines linking Urumqi with Kuytun, Shihezi, Karamay cities were expected to start operations on Thursday and an opening ceremony is planned.

During an inspection tour to Xinjiang which ended on Wednesday, President Xi Jinping said that long-term stability in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is vital to the whole country's stability and national security.

"The long-term stability of Xinjiang is vital to the whole country's reform, development and stability; to the country's unity, ethnic harmony and national security as well as to the great revival of the Chinese nation," Xi said when meeting with local Party and government officials.