Hong Kong police have arrested about 38 persons, including a 13-year-old boy, involved in confrontations that erupted at a weekend anti-Chinese protest aimed at shoppers from mainland China.

At least 10 Hong Kong policemen were injured in the weekend scuffles, authorities said.

Like Us on Facebook

The situation in a border town turned hostile that the police were forced to draw batons and used pepper spray on the protesters  last Sunday.

The demonstrators were fighting with a throng of residents who taunted them along the roads.

The protesters were targeting the shoppers from Mainland China, who they blame for the relentless and uncontrolled buying sprees that have disrupted the local economy.

The protesters marched in Yuen Long, near the Hong Kong border with China. This area is home to a dozen drug stores selling imported baby formula that shoppers from the mainland buy.

The shoppers from China reject their own domestic brands as a result of the oft-repeated controversies that surround the safety of these products.

The 2008 melamine-tainted milk scandal, that killed at least 6 babies, is the latest in the string of scandals involving the quality of milk from the Mainland.

The shoppers have come to be known as "parallel traders," as they usually work for shadowy operators who handle the reselling of the goods across the border for huge profits.

"There is a lot of anger here for Chinese smugglers because we just don't like how they drive up all the prices and how they create a lot of chaos in the market," protester Kevin Lee said.

"We are not benefiting from it," he adds.

The protest in Yuen Long was the third of its kind held against the "parallel traders". Two other protests took place in other areas of Hong Kong's northern suburbs last February.

These demonstrations reflect the sentiment of many Hong Kong residents against the influx of Chinese visitors.

In the previous scuffles, police had arrested 19 protesters who were heckling the Chinese shoppers.

In 2014, over 47 million people from the Mainland came to the districts near the border. The figure is 16 percent higher than in 2013.

One third of the retail sales in Hong Kong are attributed to the purchases made by people from the Mainland.

Hong Kong government has been trying to curb the practice of parallel trading.

More than 1,900 Mainlanders have been caught in the past two years, on suspicion of being involved in this illegal business.

About 25,000 others, who were accused of being "parallel traders," have been prohibited from entering the city.

TagsHong Kong