Brazil says BYD Chinese workers found in ‘slavery-like conditions’ victims of human trafficking

BYD and its contractor Jinjiang have agreed to house the 163 labourers in hotels until a deal to end their contracts is reached

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BYD’s new electric vehicle factory’s construction site in Camacari, Brazil. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:30am, 27 Dec 2024Updated: 4:48pm, 27 Dec 2024

Chinese workers found at a construction site for a factory owned by China’s electric vehicle producer BYD in Brazil’s Bahia state are victims of human trafficking, Brazilian labour authorities said on Thursday in a growing controversy in BYD’s biggest overseas market.

BYD and contractor Jinjiang Group have agreed to assist and house the 163 workers in hotels until a deal to end their contracts is reached, Brazil’s Labor Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement issued after meeting representatives from both firms.

The brief statement did not provide details on how prosecutors had reached their conclusion. BYD and Jinjiang did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Jinjiang rejected the Brazilian authorities’ assessment on Monday that the workers at the site in the eastern state of Bahia were operating under “slavery-like conditions”.

Jinjiang said in a social media post reposted by a BYD spokesperson that the portrayal of the workers as “enslaved” was inaccurate and that there were translation misunderstandings.

Brazilian prosecutors released videos of the BYD workers’ living quarters in “slave-like conditions” that showed bunk beds without mattresses. Photo: AFP/Brazil’s federal public ministry/Handout

BYD initially said it had cut ties with Jinjiang, but a BYD executive later accused “foreign forces” and some Chinese media of “deliberately smearing Chinese brands and the country and undermining the relationship between China and Brazil”.