Henan: Officials pledge to release funds after China bank protest

Image source, Reuters

Customers who have had their funds frozen by rural banks will soon be getting their money back.

There was an announcement just a day after a violent protest in Zhengzhou.

Regulators say payments will be made in batches from this Friday.

The four banks that were the focus of the protests are thought to have frozen more than five billion dollars of deposits.

"advance payments" would be made to customers through a local association supervised by China's central bank, according to a statement on Monday.

Customers were asked to call the association this Friday.

Hundreds of people attended a protest in Zhengzhou on Sunday over frozen deposits, which turned violent after a clash with a group of unknown men.

The banks had not communicated with the demonstrators since April, when they had supposedly upgraded their internal systems.

According to local media reports, police told protesters to leave.

There are videos on social media that show a group of men dressed in plain clothes throwing water bottles at protesters.

The protester told the Chinese Broadcasting Corporation that the demonstrators were being attacked.

There was a group of people without police uniforms. The protester wanted to be identified only as Ms Wang.

The local police said on Sunday that they had made progress in their investigations into the banks without mentioning the protests.

The police believe that the suspects controlled a number of banks in the province.

Several banks froze their customers' deposits in April.

Thousands of customers have traveled to Zhengzhou to try to withdraw their money.

Thousands of people took to the streets on 23 May, after small protests, to protest against the government.

The Covid-19 tracing app, which is necessary in many Chinese cities for residents to enter buildings and shops, use public transport or leave the city, was an issue for some bank customers who had visited Zhengzhou.