Family members of the Chinese citizens aboard doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 say the authorities who ended the search for the plane are deceiving them.

A few dozen relatives gathered in Beijing on Wednesday, one day after Australia, China and Malaysia called an end to a nearly three-year search for the plane.

Nearly two-thirds of the 239 people on board were Chinese.

Zhang Meiling, whose 37-year-old daughter was on board, told reporters the authorities had "cheated us for the past three years".

Another relative, Dai Shuqing, said the authorities were "wasting time" and owed them an explanation for why they failed to find the plane or the victims.

Several of the attendees were crying, and shouting could be heard from outside the meeting.

Many Chinese relatives have long been frustrated with the investigation and what they said was a lack of credible information, at one point marching to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.

On Tuesday, relatives of some of the 152 Chinese who died on MH370 voiced their anger and said they were demoralised by the suspension of search efforts.

Li Xinmao, whose daughter and son-in-law were on the flight heading to Beijing, called Tuesday's announcement "unacceptable".

Li accused Malaysia and China of being "irresponsible" and ignoring relatives' protests.

However, Nan Jinyan, whose brother's fiancee was killed, said relatives had to accept the "fact that the missing plane can't be found, maybe forever".

Flight 370 lost contact with air traffic control on March 8, 2014, early in its flight and its disappearance is regarded as one of the greatest aviation mysteries.