More than 400 people in 50 vehicles were stranded for more than a day on a national highway in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region due to heavy snow since early Wednesday.

The vehicles had been stopped on the National Highway 216 in north Xinjiang's Altay City, neighboring Mongolia, said an official of Fuyun County's highway transport bureau.

The bureau sent eight snowploughs to the site after receiving the report at 8 a.m., and the vehicles were beginning to move again at 4. p.m., although it was still snowing heavily, the official said.

The snow is expected to continue till Saturday, according to the regional meteorological bureau.