CNN and BBC reported on the protests.

Starting from November 26, protests are taking place, including in the country's capital, Beijing, and the largest cities, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Discontent grew after a fire killed 10 people in the city of Urumqi in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Urumqi has been under lockdown for more than three months.

About 4 million people live in it.

Because of the restrictions, many of them have not been able to leave their homes for about 100 days.

On November 24, a fire broke out in one of the multi-storey buildings and, presumably, because of the locked doors, many residents were unable to get out of the building and escape.

Chinese authorities deny the accusations and say that people misunderstood the rules of security.

On Saturday evening, hundreds of Shanghai residents gathered for a candlelight vigil to commemorate the victims of the fire in Xinjiang.

They created a makeshift memorial out of candles, flowers and posters.

According to CNN, people held blank sheets of white paper, symbolically speaking against censorship, and chanted: "We need human rights, we need freedom."

As a result, the police in Shanghai detained several participants of the protest action, while acting harshly, pushing and pushing the demonstrators.

Journalists note that some videos show chaotic scenes of police pushing, pulling and beating protesters.

CNN reports that some protesters shouted demands for the leader of China and the Communist Party to "resign," and sang the Chinese national anthem and "The Internationale."

By Sunday evening, mass protests had spread to Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Wuhan, the city where the outbreak of the coronavirus infection was first recorded.

Thousands of residents called not only for the lifting of anti-Covid restrictions, but also for political freedoms, and also expressed support for the detained protesters in Shanghai.

Protests also took place on the campuses of Chinese universities.

At Tsinghua University, an elite university in Beijing, hundreds of students gathered in the square with white sheets of paper and shouted: “Democracy and the rule of law!

Freedom of expression!".

Western media note that such nationwide protests are an extremely rare phenomenon in China.

The authorities have not yet officially commented on the protests.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, China has followed the most stringent measures to contain the spread of the infection.

Chinese authorities continue to impose strict lockdowns as soon as new cases of infection are discovered, locking down entire districts, barring residents from going outside for weeks or months at a time.

Despite strict measures, the number of cases in China last week reached a record since the beginning of the pandemic, with 31,527 cases reported on November 23, compared to the April peak of 28,000.