BEIJING: China on Sunday called off the

takeover of a state-owned steel plant after workers protested and trapped an official in the factory office for four days - the second time in a month that

the country’s steelworkers have rallied to successfully avoid privatisation.

Authorities in central Henan province decided to stop the takeover of Linzhou Iron and Steel Co Ltd to calm workers who had been protesting since Tuesday against the restructuring and to demand higher compensation, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

A similar protest last month in the northeast led to the general manager of

a state-owned steel plant being beaten

to death. That plant’s merger was

called off as well.