"What is China's Jinjiang, the BYD contractor under fire in Brazil?,"

China's Jinjiang Group is in the spotlight after Brazil's labour authorities said workers at a factory it is building for electric vehicle maker BYD (002594.SZ), opens new tab were victims of human trafficking working in "slavery-like conditions".

Jinjiang has rejected the claim about workers in slavery-like conditions and not responded to a request for comment on the trafficking allegation. China's foreign ministry said it is communication with Brazil and that China requires Chinese companies to operate in compliance with the law...

From 2018 to 2022, Jinjiang was ordered by Chinese courts to compensate workers in five disputes involving work accidents and injuries, according to Tianyancha.

It was fined in three cases in 2023 and 2024 for violating worker safety regulations, according to the database.

A penalty record also showed that in May 2022, a worker at a construction site of BYD's in Hefei was killed in a falling accident. Jinjiang, the chief contractor of the project, was fined 310,000 yuan alongside two sub-contractors by the local authorities in 2023 for failing to implement safety measures...

Jinjiang said on its Weibo account that the portrayal of the workers as "enslaved" was inaccurate and that there were translation misunderstandings.

It posted a video of a group of Chinese workers, one reading to the camera a letter that Jinjiang said the workers had jointly signed, saying the claim that they had been rescued insulted their dignity.

The unidentified worker said they were shocked by the possibility that they could be sent home, that they wanted to keep their jobs and continue working in Brazil...