Jinjiang Group, a contractor for Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, has disputed claims by Brazilian authorities that its employees were working in “slavery-like conditions” at a construction site in Brazil’s Bahia state. The Brazilian labor authorities had found 163 Chinese nationals working at the site, which is building a BYD-owned factory, and said they were subjected to poor living conditions and withheld passports.
Jinjiang Group said that the portrayal of its employees as “enslaved” was inconsistent with the facts and that there were translation misunderstandings. The company claimed that there were cultural difference issues and that questions from the Brazilian inspectors had been “suggestive.” Jinjiang Group also posted a video showing a group of Chinese workers in front of the camera, with one of them reading out a letter that the workers had jointly signed.
The letter stated that 107 workers had handed their passports to the company for help with applying for a temporary ID certificate in Brazil, contradicting the Brazilian labor inspectors’ claim that the workers had had their passports withheld by the company. The workers in the video also expressed their happiness to be working in Brazil and their commitment to complying with laws and regulations.
BYD, which has cut ties with the firm that hired the workers, said it was working with authorities to resolve the situation. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the Chinese embassy in Brazil was communicating with Brazilian counterparts to verify the situation and handle it. The dispute has sparked concerns about the treatment of Chinese workers abroad and the impact on the relationship between China and Brazil.