Hong Kong police arrest 38 during violent clashes

Hong Kong police have arrested 38 people after anti-China demonstrators in the city clashed with the police.

It is the latest of a long series of protests against mainland China and come just three months since the police dismantled the last of the pro-democracy camps in the city.

The protests saw around 400 demonstrators chanting anti-China slogans, including calls to ban multiple-entry permits for Chinese, as well as cools for the overthrow of the Communist Party in China.

The complaints about entry permits related to 'parallel traders,' who purchase goods in Hong Kong before selling them on the other side of the border at a profit.

The traders usually buy a wide range of goods, including electronics goods like ipads or even wine. The practice is controversial among Hong Kong residents, who argue that the parallel traders are pushing up retail rental rates in the city, forcing out regular shopkeepers.

Hong Kong currently does not have a tax on goods and services.

"There is a lot of anger from other people on Chinese smugglers because we just don't like how they drive up all the prices, drive up everything, create a lot of chaos, and we aren't benefiting from it,'' protester Kelvin Lee, from Hong Kong Indigenous, tone of the groups that organised the protest, told the BBC.

Demonstrators in the neighbourhood of Yeun Long, close to the Chinese border, blocked off main roads with rubbish bins, while the police used pepper spray against some protesters, Reuters news agency reported.

Hong Kong transport and housing secretary Anthony Cheung said the government would look at the issue of accommodating mainland Chinese tourists.

"Too many tourists can be a good thing, but also it creates pressure," he said, as cited by the South China Morning Post newspaper.

"We hope that through policy, we can make sure that it does not have a negative impact on local residents or affect their daily lives."