Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi decided to ban the burqa last month and the legislature of the region signed off on the ruling Saturday.

The country's official Xinhua news agency described the legislation as "an effort to curb growing extremism that forced Uygur [Uighur] women to abandon their colorful traditional dress and wear black burqas"

Xinhua highlighted that the garment has also been banned in France and Belgium and stated that it is "not a national dress of Muslims." 

In July 2014, the government issued warnings to employees and students not to fast during the holy month of Ramadan.   

It also restricted men from having long beards, clamped down on religious education activities, and acted to control the entrances and exits to mosques.

Uighur, a Turkic group that makes up around 45 percent of the population of East Turkestan, has accused China of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.