China’s national flag is reflected on a commercial bank advertisement bearing the Chinese yuan sign at a commercial bank branch in a business district in Beijing, China January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
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BEIJING, July 10 (Reuters) – Several people protesting in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou against a freeze on deposits by some rural-based banks said they were injured on Sunday when heavy security personnel dispersed the crowd.
Banks froze millions of dollars worth of deposits in April, telling customers they were upgrading their internal systems. read more Banks have not issued any announcement on the matter since then, depositors said.
Neither bank responded to emails and phone calls for comment. Chinese media reported the frozen deposits could be worth up to $1.5 billion and authorities are investigating the three banks.
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About 1,000 people gathered outside the China Central Bank branch in Zhengzhou on Sunday to demand action.
Videos and photos on social media showed protesters waving banners and throwing plastic bottles at approaching security guards, who then roughly abducted some of the protesters.
“I feel so hurt that I can’t even explain it to you,” one protester surnamed Zhang, 40, told Reuters.
Zhang said he had hoped to recover about 170,000 yuan ($25,000) deposited at one of the banks, Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank.
Zhang said he suffered injuries to his foot and toe and was taken away by four unidentified security officers around noon. Security officers outnumbered protesters about three to one, he said.
“They didn’t say they’d beat us if we refused to leave. They just used the loudspeaker to say we’re breaking the law by petitioning. It’s ridiculous. It’s the banks who are breaking the law.”
Reuters could not immediately reach police for comment.
The banks, which include Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank and Shangcai Huimin Country Bank, are being investigated by authorities for illegal fundraising, the state-run Global Times reported.
More than 1,000 depositors from across the country planned to gather in Zhengzhou last month to try to withdraw their money, but were unable to when their COVID-19 health codes, which determine whether a person can travel, switched to a status of “ prohibited for travel’. Read more
Five employees were subsequently disciplined for abusing the health code system.
($1 = 6.6945 yuan)
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Reporting by Martin Quinn Pollard and David Stanway; Editing by Robert Birsell
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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