BEIJING: About 30,000 Chinese steelworkers clashed with police in a protest over plans to merge their mill with another company, and they beat the company's general manager to death, a human rights monitor said.

Several hundred people were injured in the clash on Friday in the north-eastern city of Tonghua, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said.

Employees of Tonghua Iron and Steel Group objected to plans for Jianlong Steel to take control of the company, the centre said. It said Jianlong, whose headquarters are in Beijing, controlled the company temporarily last year, and employees blame Jianlong for financial problems suffered at the time.

Tonghua employees attacked Jianlong's general manager, Chen Guojun, during the protest and beat him to death, the centre said.

Workers were angry that Mr Chen was paid about 3 million yuan ($538,500) last year, while some retirees received as little as 200 yuan a month, the centre said.