Reuters Copyright: Reuters A protester runs through tear gas in Hong Kong Image caption: A protester runs through tear gas in Hong Kong

It was supposed to be a day of celebration in China, marking 70 years since the start of Communist rule in the world's most populous nation. But even as they tried to impress the wider world, eyes were turning to Hong Kong, where pro-democracy protesters had taken to the streets in their thousands.

As today's live page comes to a close, China correspondent Stephen McDonell - who has spent the day reporting from the protests - sums up events in Hong Kong:

A teenage student activist was shot in the chest from point blank range. Footage appears to show him trying to strike a police officer with a short pole at the time.

Hard line protesters charged up escalators trying to reach a police position. They faced a hail of rubber bullets and tear gas and were forced to retreat.

Water cannon trucks were used not only to clear thousands of demonstrators but to put out the many fires lit in the city, especially the burning barricades built across major roads.

There had been predictions of a violent escalation in Hong Kong to mark the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule in China and that’s exactly what’s happened here.

A peaceful mass march turned into a series of running street battles as protesters tried to upstage events in Beijing with their calls for democratic reform.