Around 100 angry investors stormed the headquarters of the Chinese crisis group China Evergrande.
They gathered in the lobby of the building in the Chinese metropolis of Shenzen on Monday and asked for their money back.
Around 60 uniformed security personnel lined up in front of the main entrance to keep other people protesting loudly.
Some people tried to break through barriers and get into elevators.
Shouts of “Evergrande, give us our money back” could be heard in the crowd.
Investors fear a collapse of the real estate company, which is groaning under a mountain of debt of more than $ 300 billion. Investors throw stocks and bonds out of their portfolios, prices collapse. Media reports said Evergrande wanted to suspend interest payments to creditor banks and no longer make payments for its wealth management products.
A manager of Evergrande's wealth management division suggested, according to a report in the financial magazine "Caixin", that customers should be partially compensated. But the investors rejected the proposal. “They say repayment could take two years. But there is no legal guarantee and I am afraid that the company will no longer exist by the end of the year, ”said one of the protesters. The man said he worked for the corporation and had invested 100,000 yuan (around $ 16,000). His relatives have invested around one million yuan in Evergrande products.
No comment on the riot was received from the Shenzen police or the company.
Videos of other protests allegedly related to Evergrande circulated on Chinese social media.
Reuters was initially unable to verify their authenticity.
In June, Evergrande defaulted on interest payments on bonds.
The lowering of the credit ratings by the rating agencies Moody's, Fitch and China Chengxin International (CCXI) had led to a sell-off on the bond and stock markets.
The second largest real estate developer in the country itself warned of liquidity and default risks if it should not succeed in resuming construction, selling holdings and renewing loans.