Xinjiang says the centres will tackle extremism through "thought transformation".To get more
latest china news, you can visit shine news official website.
Rights groups say detainees are made to swear loyalty to President Xi Jinping and criticise or renounce their faith.
In August, China denied allegations that it had locked up a million people.
But officials attending a UN human rights meeting admitted that Uighurs
"deceived by religious extremism" were undergoing re-education and
resettlement.
China's Muslim 'crackdown' explained
Xinjiang has seen cycles of violence and crackdowns for years. China
accuses Islamist militants and separatists of orchestrating the trouble.
What does the Chinese legislation say?
Xinjiang's new legislation is the first detailed indication of what China is doing in the region.
It says examples of behaviour that could lead to detention include
expanding the concept of halal - which means permissible in Islam - to
areas of life outside diet, refusing to watch state TV and listen to
state radio and preventing children from receiving state education.
Media captionJohn Sudworth reports from Xinjiang, where all filming and reporting by foreign media is tightly controlled
China says its network of detention centres will also teach Mandarin Chinese, legal concepts and provide vocational training.
Rights groups have criticised the move. Sophie Richardson from Human
Rights Watch said the "words on paper outlining grotesque, vast human
rights abuses don't deserve the term 'law'".
New law bans promoting of religion
Michael Bristow, BBC News
By giving these camps a legal footing, China appears to have confirmed
what many have been saying for months: that it is running a string of
re-education camps for Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang in the name of
combating extremism.
In newly published regulations detailing the camps, China has given them
a vague-sounding name. It calls them "vocational skills and educational
training centres".
But it is clear their purpose is not just about giving people the ability to get a better job.
The regulations say they are for people "influenced by extremism". The
point is to correct bad behaviour, and ensure those inside them undergo
psychological counselling and ideological education.
The camps are part of a broader attack on Islamic extremism in Xinjiang.
The new rules mean it's illegal to spread religious fanaticism by, for example, having "abnormal beards or unusual names".
And extremism is defined so broadly that it even seems to be applicable
to parents who complain if their children want to marry someone of a
different faith or ethnic group.
