An information screen in Beijing's Sanlitun district appears to depict foreigners as criminals during the coronavirus outbreak on April 15.

Filmed in the SOHO area, the informative animation allegedly had Chinese characters throughout but the character that faces jail time appears foreign, according to the filmer.

The post caused some outrage online with many people saying that there are problems between locals and foreigners causing tensions to run high, especially during the coronavirus outbreak.

The filmer told Newsflare: "Actually my wife and I arrived on the square exactly when the character gets jailed.

"We decided to stay there and watch the whole loop to understand what it's about.

"I'm living in different countries every year but it's the first time I pick a country which is not mainly caucasian, so I never really had a chance to experience discrimination directed toward me before that, It made my heart sink."

They later said: "A spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministry went public with supporting the thesis of an American originated virus.

"The figure counting now, splitting local cases and imported cases and detailing the country of origins of those cases while failing to predict that 90% of them were Chinese citizens flying back home, is an attempt at turning the public opinion against foreigners. To me, it's the classic trick of finding someone people can hate on, instead of hating on their government.

"They are preparing the people of China so they will side with the CCP after the pandemic is dealt with and they get blamed by every other country. Just my personal opinion though."

Tensions are rising against foreigners in China amid coronavirus pandemic

Sanlitun SOHO Beijing Apr 15th, After a 5min video with 100% chinese actors and characters explaining safety mesures, guess who ends up in jail for breaking the rules

Actually my wife and I arrived on the square exactly when the character gets jailed. We decided to stay there and watch the whole loop to understand what it's about.

I'm living in different countries every year but it's the first time I pick a country which is not mainly caucasian, so I never really had a chance to experience discrimination directed toward me before that. It made my heart sink.

I can't say much about people's behavior toward my wife or myself because I dont speak chinese so my interactions with locals are very limited, and we still don't go out that much since the pandemic, even now, by precaution. We feel like if there would be a second wave, we would learn about it only when it's too late. We also live in Sanlitun, a very touristic area, where people are more used to see foreigners around, even if only a few remains now.

About institutional racism, a spokeperson from the chinese foreign ministry went public with supporting the thesis of an american originated virus. The figure counting now, splitting local cases and imported cases and detailing the country of origins of those cases while failing to precise that 90% of them were chinese citizen flying back home, is an attempt at turning the public opinion against foreigners.

To me it's the classic trick of finding someone people can hate on, instead of hating on their governement. They are preparing the people of China so they will side with the CCP after the pandemic is dealt with and they get blamed by every other country. Just my personal opinion though.