About 600 people in Jianxia village in Zhejiang province have taken control of the Zhejiang Tianneng Battery company, a maker of car batteries, resident Han Cheng told AFP.

"My dad is on night duty and my mother is day duty and we definitely will not let the workers out and until a solution is found," Han said.

Residents marched on the factory on Sunday, saying it was the reason children in the community had lead poisoning.

"There are about 200 children in the village and they are all getting sick," said Han, who has a four-year-old daughter.

"They are polluting the air and it has been going on for 15 years."

Four people were hospitalised after they were injured when factory workers and villagers fought each other, he said.

Local government officials were meeting with residents to try to defuse the situation, said an official from Meishan town, where Jianxia village is located, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Shanghai.

"Authorities are there now trying to solve the problem," he said, refusing to be identified.

"Some of the villagers are overreacting and have acted on impulse. This can all be discussed over the table, but it is not right to not allow workers to come out," he said.

Telephones at the plant were not answered. Police were aware of the situation but refused comment.

Social unrest that often turns violent is becoming increasingly common in China, reflecting a high degree of dissatisfaction and distrust of authorities and businesses.

People in the world's most populous nation are also becoming increasingly informed about environmental pollution and demanding action for a problem that has plagued the country for years.

related report
China Wants To Cut Coal Miners' Work Day To Prevent Fatal Accidents
Beijing (AFP) Jun 30, 2005 - China plans to limit the time coal miners have to spend at work underground to six hours a day in a bid to halt a trend of soaring fatalities in its mining industry, state media said Thursday.

Coal miners are currently made to work eight hours a day on average, exhausting them to the point where they make fatal mistakes and lives are lost, the Xinhua news agency reported.

"With more sleep and a clearer mind, miners could be more efficient," Yue Fubin, an expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the agency.

The intention of cutting the work day to six hours is stated in a new document from the State Council, the country's Cabinet, Xinhua said. It did not say if there was a timetable for when the change should be implemented.

The timing of the new policy may be awkward for the nation's coal mining companies, since China's economy is currently growing at nearly double-digit rates and relies on coal for two thirds of its energy demand.

However, experts told Xinhua that coal mining companies would simply have to add another shift to the current three daily shifts.

Official figures show that more than 6,000 miners died in accidents in China last year, although independent estimates say the real figure could be as high as 20,000. Many fatalities occur at illegally operating mines.

Reforms have often been promised in the past, but enforcing the changes have proved the big stumbling block.

"There is still a lot to do to improve the quality of miners' life, especially for those working for private coal mine owners," said Yue.

"Local social security departments should take more initiative to oversee how the coal mine managers carry out the decision."

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