BEIJING - Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday called for stability and swift development in restive Tibet, where violent protests against communist rule have triggered a huge clampdown.

Hu made the comments during a discussion with deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Tibet, the state Xinhua news agency reported.

China's parliament opened its annual session Friday, with the Communist Party reassuring the people it can bridge a widening rich-poor gap and keep the world's third-largest economy on track.

"Hu said development and stability in Tibet are two top tasks that demand unremitting efforts," Xinhua reported.

In March 2008, riots against alleged government repression erupted in Tibet's capital Lhasa. China says 21 people were killed by "rioters" and that security forces killed one "insurgent".

But the Tibetan government-in-exile, headed by the Dalai Lama, claimed that more than 200 people were killed and some 1,000 hurt in the ethnic unrest and subsequent crackdown.