BEIJING - A FEW hundred taxi drivers went on strike on Wednesday in a southwestern Chinese district to protest a proposed increase in the number of cabs operating there, state media reported.

It was the latest round of protests by taxi drivers in several parts of China upset at fuel costs and unlicensed competition.

Xinhua News Agency said out of about 300 licensed taxis in Yongchuan, a suburb of the city of Chongqing, only a few were working on Wednesday.

Xinhua cited an unnamed official from the Yongchuan district government as saying many of the cab drivers were protesting a government plan to raise the number of taxis by a hundred to 400 to serve the district of 310,000 people.

The Yongchuan district government on Wednesday referred phone inquiries to the city's Communist Party branch, but phones there rang unanswered.

The protest comes on the heels of a strike in the same city by 9,000 taxi drivers earlier this month over rental fees and fuel shortages.

Disgruntled drivers smashed more than 100 cabs and three police vehicles. The protest also prompted several hundred drivers in other parts of the country to take similar action over unlicensed competition and high fees.

The unrest highlights the increasing anxiety felt by many workers over their incomes and job security as the Chinese economy slows.

News about the global financial crisis and plunging markets is also adding to concerns.

The earlier Chongqing strike was resolved only after Mr Bo Xilai, the city's top official and a member of the ruling Communist Party's powerful Politburo, met with representatives of the cab drivers.

The apparent swift action to contain the unrest reflects concern among the country's communist leadership that financial woes sweeping the country could spark anti-government action among the unemployed and those otherwise suffering economic hardship. -- AP