Police stand guard as two gangs start to fight in the Shisanhang Road in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province on Friday. [Chen Wenbi/China Daily]

Dozens of people were injured in a large fight that took place in the downtown area of the capital city of Guangdong province on Friday, local police said.

Several suspects were detained for questioning, according to a police notice on Friday afternoon.

Police did not release the names of those who were injured but said all of them have gone to nearby hospitals and are safe.

The fight occurred at about 11 am on Shisanhang Road in downtown Guangzhou, after two companies entered into a dispute over the control of a commercial plaza's parking lot.

Before the fight, the two companies, the Guangzhou Zhongyi Property Management Company and the Guangdong Jinsuifeng Company, had long been at odds with each other about the lot at the New China Plaza, in the commercial area along Shisanhang Road.

The Guangzhou Jinsuifeng Company bought the plaza for 970 million yuan (US$148.5 million) two years ago. Even so, the Guangzhou Zhongyi Property Management Company, which had controlled the parking lot before the sale, refused to turn the administration rights to the property owner.

On Wednesday, the Liwan District Court ordered the Zhongyi company to grant those rights to the Jinsuifeng company.

As for the fight, sources with the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau did not say how many people had taken part in it.

But at least 30 police cars were sent to the scene. Riot police and armed police stood ready to prevent the commotion from worsening.

Shop owners at the Shisanhang area described the fight as "a terrible scene", like something they have only seen in movies about crime in Hong Kong.

"It's all so terrible and everyone here is in such a mess," Tang Man, a clothing shop owner, told China Daily. "I have never seen such a big fight. Two groups of people, one side in white clothes, fought each other with these big long clubs."

Tang, who has been running the clothing business at the Shisanhang area for three years, closed his shop immediately after the fight.

"Police shouted and asked us to go away," Tang said. "So people, especially shop owners like me, were very frightened and ran away."

Shisanhang used to be a famous commercial area in Guangzhou, a place considered to be the cradle of China's international trade.

The area has now become a hub for clothing wholesalers, which distribute products to inland China, Russia and South Asian countries and regions.

"I am afraid that our business will be harmed far into the future by the fight," Tang said.

After the fight, several major roads near the Shisanhang were closed to ensure the area's security, leading to a traffic jam in the city's old downtown area.

Local police vowed on Friday to punish anyone whose actions violate social order.

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