Order restored after protest in Chongqing

Social order has been restored after thousands of protestors against district merger in southwestern city of Chongqing ended a two-day protest, local authorities said Wednesday.

People began to rally in several places in the Wansheng economic development zone of Qijiang district on Tuesday and the protest swelled to nearly 10,000 people on Wednesday, blocking expressway exits and roads and smashing and setting fires to police cars.

Police fired tear gas on Wednesday morning, trying to disperse the protestors.

By Wednesday night, protestors left and traffic resumed in the district.

No one died in the rally though there were small clashes between the police and protestors. Those who suffered minor injuries in the clashes were all sent to hospitals.

A local official who requested anonymity said the protest was triggered by an earlier merger between the former Wansheng district and Qijiang county, which were regrouped as Qijiang district at the end of last year.

Disgruntled residents from Wansheng complained that their business was affected after the merger while some worried about the lowering of their healthcare standard.

Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan rushed to the scene to persuade the protestors to return, and the municipal government issued a guide on Wednesday, promising the smooth economic development of Wansheng by offering preferential policies to former Wansheng residents.

Officials from the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said the protest was related to the people's economic interests, and had no connection with the case of Wang Lijun, Chongqing's former police chief, or the investigation of Bo Xilai, former Party chief of Chongqing.