A climber known as the French Spider-Man has scaled a skyscraper owned by Hong Kong’s richest man to unveil a banner which appears to be related to anti-government protests in the city.

Alain Robert, 56, climbed the Cheung Kong Center, owned by billionaire Li Ka-Shing, on Friday before hanging a banner with the Hong Kong and China flags above a handshake.

The Frenchman has gained notoriety from scaling skyscrapers around the world, often without safety equipment.

Almost exactly a year ago, he was given a ban from climbing in Hong Kong. At the time, he joked he would be back on day 366.

The French Spiderman Alain Robert joins the protests by scaling Li Ka-shing's skyscarper and hanging a flag depicting the Hong Kong flag and a handshake #antiELAB pic.twitter.com/ZB2hn4ir5S — Mark Agnew (@AdventureAgnew) August 16, 2019

In 2011, Robert climbed Hong Kong’s 27-floor Hang Seng Bank building using just his hands, to raise awareness of global warming.

Robert’s feat follows adverts taken out by billionaire Li in a local newspaper on Friday that said “Love Hong Kong, love China, love yourself”.

Hong Kong is in the midst of protests against a now-shelved extradition bill that would have allowed transfers of fugitives to all jurisdictions that the city is yet to sign an extradition deal with, including mainland China.

The demonstrations have escalated into 11 weeks of violent clashes between protesters and police.

This is the flag he erected. AP identified him as French spiderman Alain Robert. @tictoc #香港 pic.twitter.com/xkxddCmtd4 — Marc Davies (@MarcDDavies) August 16, 2019

In a video of Robert scaling the building, a man said: “That’s crazy” and his friend replied: “That’s nuts.”

Robert’s other climbs include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Galaxy Macau tower.