By intern reporter Lan Fang

Disputes between a timber company and local villagers sparked a riot in Jiangxi Province. Eleven villagers and three 3 police officers were injured.

The incident erupted just before midnight on October 23 in Tonggu County. A conflict over woodcutting broke out between a crowd of locals and 30 security guards of privately-owned Lvhai Wood Industry Company Ltd.

According to Xinhua News Agency, 11 villagers were injured by the company staff, three of them severely. The next morning, around 150 villagers attacked and looted the offices of the company.

Three of the police officers dispatched to appease the unrest were injured. The riot was finally pacified by late October 24.

China News Service reported that 11 people involved in the incident have been arrested. Six of them are Lvhai guards.

The disputes between Lvhai and the local villagers can be traced back to 2004, when the company started to lease about 78,000 mu of forest lands at 80 yuan for each mu. However, with the continued reform of China's forest property rights and the rising price of timber, villagers have grown unsatisfied with the payment offered by Lvhai. Since 2005, conflicts between villagers and the company guards have occurred sporadically.

According to local officials, most of Shuanghong village’s 2,000 residents rely on forestry for a living. The local government said it has formed a team to investigate the case.