BISHKEK - At least 18 Chinese workers were injured, two seriously, in a conflict with local residents in southern Kyrgyzstan, the Chinese Consulate in Osh said Thursday.

The conflict took place in Kurshab village in Uzgen city, Osh state, on Tuesday after Chinese company TBEA's workers caught a villager allegedly stealing. The villager and his relatives, who had been called to the company, quarrelled and clashed with the Chinese workers, the consulate said.

More than 100 people joined the fight, which also injured several policemen and villagers, it said.

The two seriously injured Chinese workers were admitted to an intensive care unit at an Osh hospital, the consulate said, adding all the Chinese workers in the village had been transferred to Osh for safety reasons.

Chinese Consul General Wu Yingqin had met representatives from the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry in Osh and both sides agreed to solve the incident peacefully and not to let it undermine the two countries' friendly relations, the consulate said.

TBEA, a Chinese power transmission and transformation company, is building power facilities in southern Kyrgyzstan.