Chinese taxi drivers attempt mass suicide in Beijing during vehicle leasing protest

More than 30 taxi drivers tried to kill themselves in a busy Beijing shopping street yesterday by drinking pesticide in protest at the way taxi companies renewed the leases of their vehicles.

Police found them unconscious in front of a shopping mall in Wangfujing, with bottles of pesticide beside them, at about 11am, Beijing police officials said on the force's weibo account.

They were taken to hospitals, including Beijing Union Medial College Hospital and the Tongren Hospital, but all were out of danger, the police report said.

Police, who are now investigating, took away several of the petitioners at 3pm.

One protester told mainland media outlet Caixin they had travelled to Beijing to petition against a 2011 reform affecting taxi company leasing renewals.

"We arrived by train on Monday but got no response after taking our complaint to both the State Bureau for Letters and Calls and the Ministry of Transport," he said, before police halted the conversation.