167 Children Rescued in China Child Labour Crackdown

Chinese police have rescued 167 children sold into labor in factories after an undercover newspaper investigation alleged that more than 1,000 had been sold "like cabbages", reports said today.

The state media said authorities in Dongguan, in the southern province of Guangdong, had launched a drive to rescue them.

The report claimed that children as young as seven, from the ethnic Yi minority, had been sold at a street market in the south-western province of Sichuan before being driven in trucks over 600 miles to the Pearl river delta.

Many had fake papers certifying they were adults; more had documents saying they were in their early teens. The youngest was just seven.

China announced a nationwide crackdown on slavery and child labor last year after reports that hundreds of poor farmers, children and mentally disabled people were being forced to work in kilns and mines in Shanxi and Henan provinces, with some beaten to death when they rebelled or tried to escape.

The latest scandal emerged when Sichuan residents tipped off Southern Metropolis Daily about the market. A reporter from the newspaper, well known for its investigative reporting, posed as a clothing factory manager. He was allowed to inspect the children and agreed to pay them 3.5 yuan (25p) an hour.

But the newspaper said the children's recruiters could earn around 100,000 yuan within three months, and claimed agents within the organization could earn 200-300 yuan for each child.

China Daily, the official English language newspaper, said Dongguan's party secretary, Liu Zhigeng, had instructed the police and labor departments to crack down on the problem, rescue all youngsters and punish those responsible.

"Our labor enforcement and trade union will investigate all companies in the town, the labor market and agencies," Wang Yongquan, a spokesman, said.

He Zhujian, head of the city's labor enforcement team, said: "Most of the employers are medium-to-small companies. Most small firms are not registered with the labor departments and try to cut operational costs."

Hou Yuangao, a professor with the Central University for Nationalities, told China Daily poverty drove families to send their children to work.

"In Liangshan, where farming alone cannot support a family, children as young eight or nine are sent out to work," he said. "Many parents are happy their children are earning several hundred yuan a month."