Hong Kong’s troubled relationship with mainland Chinese tourists has taken another dip after a visitor on a group shopping trip was killed when he intervened in a fight over retail commissions.

The victim, a 53 year-old construction worker from northern Heilongjiang province died on Tuesday, a day after he was knocked unconscious while trying to break up a dispute outside a jewellery shop between a tour guide and a fellow visitor who did not want to purchase anything.

Mainland tourists are an important driver of growth in the former British colony, but some Hong Kong residents have turned increasingly hostile towards their visiting neighbours, labelling them “locusts” because of their tendency to crowd the city’s already cramped shopping streets and public transport.