The US says it has closed its consulate in Chengdu, China after Beijing ordered it shut in retaliation for a US order to shut down the Chinese Consulate in Houston last week.
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A statement from the US State Department said that the consulate suspended operations at 10am on Monday.
It expressed disappointment at China's decision and said the US would try to continue its outreach to the region through its other missions in China.
The consulate in southwestern China "has stood at the centre of our relations with the people in Western China, including Tibet, for 35 years," the statement said.
State broadcaster CCTV said on its social media account that the flag was lowered at 6.18am on Monday at the US mission in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan provine.
Police have closed off a two to three block area around the consulate, cutting off virtually any view of the property. Vehicles could be seen moving in the distance behind multiple police lines.
China ordered the closing of the consulate on Friday in retaliation for a US order to close the Chinese Consulate in Houston. The tit-for-tat closings marked a significant escalation in the tensions between the two countries over a range of issues, including trade, technology, security and human rights.
Moving trucks arrived at the US consulate on Sunday afternoon and left a few hours later. Late at night, flatbed trailers entered the complex. One later emerged carrying a large shipping container and a crane.
Before the area was closed, the impending closure of the consulate drew a steady stream of onlookers over the weekend as Chengdu, like Houston, found itself in the limelight of international politics.
People stopped to take selfies and photos, jamming a footpath busy with shoppers and families with strollers on a sunny day in the city of Chengdu. A little boy posed with a small Chinese flag before plainclothes police shooed him away as foreign media cameras zoomed in.
Uniformed and plainclothes officers kept watch on both sides of barriers after scattered incidents following the Chengdu announcement on Friday, including a man who set off firecrackers and hecklers who cursed at foreign media shooting video and photos of the scene.
A man who tired to unfurl a large placard late Sunday that he called an open letter to the Chinese government was quickly taken away.
The US alleged that the Houston consulate was a nest of Chinese spies who tried to steal data from facilities in Texas, including the Texas A&M medical system and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston.
China said the allegations were "malicious slander."
Australian Associated Press
