Beijing: Police in the Chinese capital have detained 67 people for disturbing social order after demonstrators gathered to stage a rare protest in Beijing, complaining that the government was unfairly targeting a charity.

While there are thousands of protests every year in China over everything from pollution to corruption, large protests are rare in heavily guarded and affluent Beijing, with the ruling Communist Party valuing stability above all else.

State news agency Xinhua said late last week police had detained executives from a company called Shanxinhui, accusing them of operating a pyramid scheme and duping people out of money in the name of raising funds to help the poor.

Beijing police said in a statement late on Wednesday that 67 of those involved in the protest, which led authorities to shut down a major road in a southern neighbourhood of the city, had been detained.