Workers from a Chinese company have been forced to crawl on the street after failing to reach their annual targets, sparking an outcry among web users.

The staff were on all fours as they made their way through the busy traffic of Tengzhou yesterday afternoon, according to local reports.

Pedestrians of the city in eastern China were shocked by the scene as they stopped to watch the employees moving forward on their hands and knees, videos show.

All of the crawling workers were female and they work for a company which sells beauty products, reported btime.com.

The group were led by a male supervisor, who was walking while holding a large flag that bore the name of the firm.

Two other workers were seen walking alongside the group while filming the extreme punishment.

Police soon arrived at the scene after being informed of the group's behaviour, according to btime.com.

Officers demanded the leader of the team stop the punishment before issuing him a verbal warning.

A group of female employees at a beauty company in eastern China were forced to crawl on all fours through a busy street yesterday as a punishment for their poor performance at work

Footage of the humiliating task has sparked outrage among Chinese web users with many criticising the firm for its abuse on the workers.

One typical comment reads: 'Employees are humans as well. To give them such a disrespectful punishment means the boss is not a sensible person.'

The comment continues: 'It's the same for those employees too. How come they are still working in such a company?'

Some internet users suspect that the company wanted to use the penalty to advertise itself in the city, hence the large flag; others are convinced that the business is a pyramid scheme.

It is reported that the company was ordered to halt business and carry out self-reflection by the local authorities.

According to China's employment contract law, employers are not allowed to humiliate and give corporal punishment to workers. Furthermore, the employer shall be liable for compensation if any harm is done to the worker.

Nevertheless, many Chinese companies have been known for carrying out public humiliation rituals as punishment, from crawling on the streets to worm-eating.

Last month, workers at a Chinese hair salon were forced to slap themselves in the face 100 times, eat raw chillies and run 10km because their work performance hadn't reached their boss's expectation.

In November, employees at a home improvement firm in Zunyi, Guizhou province, were whipped with belts, forced to drink urine and eat insects after failing to reach their targets.