Hundreds of people gathered in China’s Henan region on Sunday for a banking protest that became violent following a scuffle with an unidentified group of men.
Protesters said that their bank balances had been blocked due to purported internal system updates and that they had not heard from the banks since.
It is claimed that approximately 39 billion yuan ($5.8 billion; £4.9 billion) has been frozen, affecting hundreds of thousands.
Later, authorities stated they would announce a solution to the problem.
Earlier last month, the situation involving the four banks was in the news because several bank clients said officials had restricted their movements to prevent them from protesting.
Protesters sat with banners and chants on the steps of the Chinese central bank in Zhengzhou, the city of Henan, on Sunday.
According to local media accounts, police were there and instructed protesters to leave the location.
Shortly thereafter, a group of unidentified males, thought to be security officers but dressed in plain clothes, approached the demonstrators.
Social media videos depicted these individuals pushing and throwing objects at protesters.
One protester, who had traveled to Henan just for the event, told that she had saved more than 100,000 yuan in one of the impacted banks and that other protesters had been severely injured.
A gang of individuals not wearing police clothes surged at us. They struck us hard, particularly the males “Ms. Wang, stated the protester who wished to remain anonymous.
“I was particularly terrified when I saw a man wearing glasses next to me with blood all over his face, from his skull to his nose.”
Without addressing the protests, local police stated later in the day that investigations into the banks were progressing.
Sunday at noon, the hashtag “ThousandsofDepositorsBesiegedatChinaCentralBankinZhengzhou” received more than 12 million views on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
However, it was then filtered and replaced with the following message: “Due to relevant regulations and legislation, the topic will not be displayed.”
The New Oriental Country Bank of Kaifeng, the Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank, the Shangcai Huimin County Bank, and the Yuzhou Xin Min Sheng Village Bank froze customer balances in April.
Since then, tens of thousands of clients have traveled to Zhengzhou to withdraw their funds.
Small demonstrations have erupted, culminating in a massive rally on May 23, in which thousands of people marched to the streets before police dispersed them.
Later, other bank customers who had visited Zhengzhou reported problems with their Covid-19 tracking app, which is required in many Chinese cities to access buildings, utilize public transportation, or exit the city.
If this status changes to red, it signifies that the individual has recently tested positive for Covid or is suspected of having Covid and must be quarantined for 14 days.
Some customers of the four banks reported that their status had changed to red despite their lack of interaction with any Covid cases.
One bank customer told that her father recently traveled to Zhengzhou to “study the situation” there since he was unable to withdraw his money.
Once he returned, his health status changed to red. My entire family is currently in quarantine after our statuses became red.”
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission reported last month that Henan New Fortune, the largest shareholder of the village banks, used third-party platforms or a money broker to steal public cash. Authorities suspect the corporation of committing financial crimes and are currently conducting an investigation.
The Henan police stated in a statement on Sunday that “the investigation is proceeding in an orderly manner.”
CCTV reported an official who stated that the local administration was attempting to check how much money clients had deposited in banks.
A solution to address the problem will be unveiled “shortly,” according to the official.
