Chinese police shot and killed two armed Uighurs in Urumqi, where ethnic violence July 5 killed 184 people, Chinese media reported Tuesday.

Another Uighur was injured in the Monday incident, China Daily said. Urumqi is the capital of northwest Xinjiang-Uighur region, where tensions between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese have simmered for years as the former resent being ruled by the latter.

The report, quoting the local government, said police on routine patrol at a hospital in Urumqi spotted the three Uighurs armed with long knives and batons, attacking a fourth Uighur.

The three refused to drop their weapons when told to do so by police, the report said but gave no details.

Police fired warning shots and the three were subsequently shot, the government said. Two of them died at the scene and the third was hospitalized.

Other than the shooting incident, the city was calm and authorities reopened more roads, the report said. Riot police continued to patrol the city with support from helicopters.

Residents have been told carry their identity cards or driver's licenses for police checks. Police have the authority to interrogate anyone who does not have an identity card.

Separately, Abudu Rezhake Tomur, a Communist party official in charge of the region's social science academy, told Xinhua news agency the damage to the local economy and social development from the riots was worse than from the global financial crisis.

"The July 5 riot in Urumqi has dealt a heavy blow to the local economy and social order and also destroyed people's daily lives in Xinjiang," he said.