"Volkswagen under fire over Xinjiang plant after China chief visit" 1 March 2023

Volkswagen drew criticism from campaigners and a big investor on Tuesday after the head of its Chinese business said he saw no sign of forced labour during a visit to the carmaker's Xinjiang plant.

The works council, which is represented on Volkswagen's supervisory board, in a statement following Ralf Brandstaetter's comments said the company must make clear the plant's value for the business and take a stance on human rights violations in China.

Activists, an international group of lawmakers and the head of sustainability and corporate governance at top-20 Volkswagen investor Deka Investment said verifying labour standards in the region was impossible. [...]

Brandstaetter said in January it was important to act from a "position of strength" within China and stay strong in the market while also ramping up sales elsewhere.

On Feb. 16-17, he toured the German group's jointly-owned facility with China's SAIC in Xinjiang, along with Volkswagen's compliance and external relations chiefs in China. [...]

Volkswagen says it has never found evidence of forced labour among its Xinjiang workforce and its presence is positive for locals. It denied reports it had kept the plant open because Beijing had imposed a condition it had to keep producing across China.

"I can talk to people and draw my conclusions. I can try and verify the facts [from joint venture partner SAIC], and that's what I did. I didn't find any contradictions," Brandstaetter said, adding it was his first visit but not his last. [...]