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Deadly Factory Fire Highlights Dangers of China’s Manufacturing Might

A deadly fire that claimed at least 28 lives [...] underscores the country’s continued reliance on manufacturing—and the danger of that work. [...] Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for an investigation [...] urging officials to “draw profound lessons”. Local authorities later said they detained the person in charge [...] and froze the firm’s accounts. [...] The number of work-related accidents decreased by nearly 9% in 2025 [...] according to data from the Ministry of Emergency Management. But the scale of the problem remains vast [...] resulting in more than 18,000 deaths.

Li Qiang, founder of China Labor Watch [...] said the recent disasters reflect structural issues [...] Workplace safety measures [...] are among the first expenditures to be cut when Chinese companies face financial pressures [...] Chinese factory workers, he added, lack effective channels to air any safety concerns they may have. “The deeper problem is that workplace safety is often treated by some companies as a cost that can be cut, rather than as a basic responsibility that must be fulfilled,” Li said.

[...] Huiteng Shoes didn’t respond to phone calls Friday. Vincent Ho, secretary-general of the Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organisation [...] said [...] conditions at smaller factories [...] are generally worse—and harder for regulators to supervise. “It is very challenging for the government to look at all these small- and medium-sized factories,” Ho said.