Protests across China as anger mounts over zero-Covid policy

Hundreds of people took to the streets in China's major cities to protest against the country's zero-Covid policy in a rare outpouring of public anger against the state.

China's hardline virus strategy is stoking public frustration, with many growing weary of snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns.

A deadly fire past week in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, has become a fresh catalyst for public anger, with many blaming Covid lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts. Authorities deny the claims.

Between 300 and 400 people gathered on the banks of a river in the capital Beijing for several hours, with some shouting: "We are all Xinjiang people! Go Chinese people!"

In the central megacity of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged, multiple live streams that were quickly censored showed crowds walking through the streets cheering and filming on their phones.

in downtown Shanghai, police clashed with groups of protestors, as officers tried to move people away from the site of an earlier demonstration on Wulumuqi street -- named after the Mandarin for Urumqi.

Crowds that had gathered overnight -- some of whom chanted "Xi Jinping, step down! " -- were dispersed.

Social media videos from the area that appeared to be taken in the late afternoon showed the crowd chanting.