Police in Manchester said “due to our fears for the safety of the man, officers intervened and removed the victim from the consulate grounds”.
The victim spent the night in hospital for treatment and an investigation is ongoing, police added in a statement.
Alicia Kearns, a lawmaker in the ruling Conservative Party and the new head of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Twitter that China’s Manchester consul general, Zheng Xiyuan, “had full sight, and was quite possibly involved, in the assaults”.
The Chinese consulate in Manchester did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment via email and the consulate’s official Wechat account, including regarding allegations that consulate staff had been involved.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Liz Truss said the reports were “deeply concerning”.
The incident was triggered when several men came out of the consulate and tried taking down several protest banners, including one with the slogan: “Heaven will destroy the Chinese Communist Party”, and a caricature of Xi wearing a crown.
Security has been tight in Beijing as the party congress gets underway, and police last week removed rare banners of political protest – including one calling for Xi’s ouster – from an overpass.