A clash over land-use compensation occurred between police and villagers Wednesday in south China's Guangdong Province. Witnesses said unknown number of villagers were slightly injured.

The conflict started in Jizhou village, Shunde district of Foshan City, when construction workers escorted by police and government officials forced into the village to build a power grid facility.

"Policemen were dispatched to safeguard the construction work at about 8 a.m., but villagers opposed the project as they were not satisfied with the compensation," said 68-year-old villager Li Yuyan.

"The police hit the villagers who were trying to break the guard line," she said. "Some villagers were slightly injured."

The police withdrew at about 4 p.m., but local government officials were still negotiating with representatives of villagers, said Feng Xiang, an official of Shunde District government.

The government acquired 931 mu (15 mu equal to one hectare) of farm land from Jizhou village in 2001 to build the facility to cope with rising power consumption by local industries, said Huang Xuandan, an official from the Lunjiao Street neighborhood committee, which administers the Jizhou village.

"Villagers could get 53 yuan for each square meter as compensation, but they want compensation for crops and social insurance. They also want 20 percent of the land back, but the government could only agree to 15 percent," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2008)