A pedestrian walks by the SKP Beijing mall in Chaoyang district in 2017. File Photo: Li Xuanmin/GT

A Video blogger, posing as a courier, created an online controversy after her video shows her being prevented from entering Beijing's SKP shopping mall, which caters to high-end merchants and shoppers. 

The vlogger, surnamed Cao, made the video as part of her three-day professional experience. As she tried to get into the mall at two different entrances in her courier's uniform, security guards told her that she could only enter the mall if she changed her outfit. 

SKP posted a statement on China's social media platform Sina Weibo on Sunday, denying couriers are barred from the mall and said that deliverymen may enter the mall via the "staff only" entrance, but amid the coronavirus outbreak, they must use designated pick-up points for pickups and deliveries.

A customer service staffer at SKP, surnamed Yang, told the Global Times that off-duty couriers can come into the mall to shop or eat at the food court, but picking up deliveries in the mall is not allowed as the mall is concerned couriers running to their destination might "bump into customers". 

Cao's video racked up more than 30 million views on Weibo, and discussion of the mall's regulation was a top trending topic.

In a survey conducted on Weibo, more than 65 percent of the respondents agreed that malls don't have the right to bar couriers. Some 450,000 people had taken the survey as of press time.   

"I could feel the mall's sense of superiority, but where does it come from? I don't understand," an irritated Cao said in her video. 

Yang insisted the mall doesn't discriminate. "If she wants to come in to take rest or shop, she is always allowed, as long as she explains this to the security guard," she said.