Samsung's China Supplier to Resume Business After Child Labour Allegations

A Chinese subsidiary of Shinyang Engineering Co Ltd will resume supplying parts to Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Tuesday, a Shinyang official said, less than a month after business ties were suspended over child labour allegations.

In July, Samsung Electronics halted business with Dongguan Shinyang Electronics Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shinyang Engineering, after a U.S.-based activist group said it found at least five child workers without contracts at the Guangdong province-based supplier.

The suspension was prompted by a report released earlier in July by China Labour Watch, which said children were working on the assembly lines at Dongguan Shinyang. In June, an independent audit by Samsung Electronics of the maker of mobile phone covers and parts had found no child labour at the supplier.

A third-party firm supplying workers had brought in child labourers around the end of June with forged identification, the official at the KOSDAQ-listed Shinyang Engineering told Reuters on Tuesday.

(Also See: Microsoft Sues Samsung Over Android Royalty Payments Dispute)

There are no child workers at Dongguan Shinyang now, said the official, who asked that he not be identified. The Chinese authorities have spoken to the children and they have been let go, the official said.

Labour practices at Samsung Electronics suppliers have been under scrutiny since 2012, when the same activist group said seven children younger than 16 were working for one of the South Korean firm's China-based suppliers. Chinese law forbids hiring workers under 16.

A Samsung spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the matter.

© Thomson Reuters 2014