The BBC has accused Chinese police of assaulting and detaining one of its journalists covering a protest in Shanghai.

“The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.

“He was held for several hours before being released. During his arrest, he was beaten and kicked by the police.

“This happened while he was working as an accredited journalist.”

Shanghai is one of several Chinese cities where protests have been escalating over stringent COVID-19 restrictions.

The protests have flared in recent days following a deadly fire in Urumqi in far-western China.

Ten people died in the tower block fire, with protesters blaming lockdown rules for hampering rescue efforts. Authorities deny the claims.

In videos circulating online, protesters can be heard shouting demands for China’s leader Xi Jinping and the Communist Party to “step down”. Crowds have also chanted, “Don’t want COVID test, want freedom!” and “Don’t want dictatorship, want democracy!”

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Other footage circulating on social media showed a man identified by other journalists as Lawrence being arrested by men in police uniforms.

The BBC said it had not been given a credible explanation for Lawrence’s detention.

“We have had no official explanation or apology from the Chinese authorities, beyond a claim by the officials who later released him that they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught COVID from the crowd,” the BBC said.

China’s embassy in London has been approached for comment.

Elsewhere, Yanzhong Huang, a Chinese health policy expert based at US think tank, The Council on Foreign Relations, told the BBC the widening protests represented a “tipping point” for COVID-related dissent in China..

Mr Huang said there was not yet any indication that the Chinese government was prepared to give up on its hardline COVID-zero strategy. But there had already been some loosening of virus measures in Urumqi, where protests began on Friday.

-with AAP