BEIJING - HUNDREDS of Chinese homeowners protested outside government offices in Shanghai demanding refunds after a 13-story apartment building in a complex under construction toppled over, newspapers reported on Sunday.

The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said the protesters marched on Saturday through central Shanghai, holding handwritten signs and chanting: 'Lotus Riverside, refund (our) homes!'

The report said uniformed police surrounded the protesters, who numbered close to 300, as they marched to the main municipal government offices and held a sit-in on the steps. Protesters told the newspaper a government representative agreed to meet some of them but that the talks were disappointing.

Protests are common all over China, but demonstrations by middle-class homeowners are rare. Authorities have sought to tread carefully among such groups who want a say in protecting the homes, jobs and other benefits that rising living standards have afforded.

The state-run Shanghai Daily said the homeowners massed outside the government office of Shanghai's suburban Minhang district, the location of the Lotus Riverside apartment compound.

Calls to the information office of the Shanghai municipal government rang unanswered on Sunday.

The toppled building is an embarrassment for Shanghai, a showcase city of 20 million in the midst of a construction boom as it prepares to host the 2010 World Expo. -- AP