Beijing claims the men were trained to carry out terror attacks in another south Asian country - most likely Pakistan
China has given rare details of what is says are the links between militant groups in its far western region of Xinjiang and neighbouring countries, most likely Pakistan, as it unveiled a list of six wanted suspects.
The ministry of public security published the names of the suspects on its website late on Thursday, along with their photographs and an outline of their alleged crimes.
All six, apparently ethnic Uighurs, had spent time in what the ministry called "a certain south Asian country" - a likely reference to Pakistan - where they were trained to carry out terror attacks and incited militants in China to carry out suicide bombings and knife attacks.
The ministry said Nuermaimaiti Maimaitimin had been given a 10-year jail term in 1999 in the unnamed south Asian country, but had escaped in 2006 and then proceeded to send a comrade-in-arms back to Xinjiang where he masterminded an attack last year.
"The ministry hopes that foreign governments and their law enforcement departments will help to arrest the six and hand them over to Chinese authorities," the official Xinhua news agency added. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately answer faxed questions about where the six suspects allegedly operated.
China has blamed incidents of violence in Xinjiang, home to the Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighur people, on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent state of East Turkestan. Xinhua said the East Turkestan Islamic Movement was "the most direct and real safety threat that China faces".
Some Chinese officials have blamed attacks on Muslim militants trained in Pakistan, though the foreign ministry has refrained from public criticism of its neighbour. Pakistan and China have long been allies, and Pakistan has leaned closer to China as its relationship with the US, Islamabad's main donor, has become more strained.
China sees Xinjiang as a bulwark against the predominantly Muslim countries of central Asia. The region, with a sixth of the country's land mass, is also rich in natural resources, including oil, coal and gas.
Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say China overstates the threat posed by militants in Xinjiang.