China: More than 30 automobile brands have products with Xinjiang forced labour risks, investigation found; incl. cos. comments
"Did coerced labour build your car?", The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 31 May 2025
Outside Wuhan [...] a 500 km2 industrial zone christened ‘Car Valley’ can pump out a million vehicles a year.
[...] workers are shipped in – thousands of Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and Kyrgyz every year – from Xinjiang [...].
An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found more than 100 brands whose products have been made, in part or whole, by workers moved under this system.
China’s largest LED chipmaker, Sanan Optoelectronics, has two factories [...] that take Xinjiang workers transferred by the government. The company makes car lighting for premium brands like Rolls Royce, according to its website. A new partnership in Chongqing manufactures chips for Tesla.
[...] Sanan also ships optical chips to Samsung in Vietnam for use in high-end display panels. [...] Samsung said it conducted “rigorous due diligence” and supply chain audits, and that a recent inspection had “found no evidence of forced labour related to Samsung products” at the supplier companies [...].
Labour dispatchers like Zhengcheng Minli get cash rewards for each worker sent out [...].
Zhengcheng Minli’s TikTok feed confirms it has sent workers to more than a dozen factories in Car Valley and further afield.
One of them is Jinrui Technology. The factory specialises in engine parts and is a key supplier for Geely, a Chinese carmaker [...]. Geely now owns Lotus and Volvo, as well as the electric vehicle (EV) brands Smart, Polestar and Lynk & Co. [...] Geely also owns the British company that builds all of London’s EV black cabs.
Engine parts made at Jinrui have been shipped to a Geely factory in [...] Sweden, that helps build Volvos, Nissans and Renaults. Chinese state media says the factory has also supplied BMW, General Motors, and the EVs of Jaguar Land Rover and BYD.
TBIJ found videos from Uyghur workers at Jinrui posted in 2024. [...].
Geely said it prohibits the use of forced labour by its suppliers.
TBIJ’s investigation found evidence of Xinjiang labour transfers to at least six of Dongfeng’s supplier factories in Hubei.
Chinese state media suggests Xinjiang workers were sent directly to BYD’s electric bus factory in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.
Transport for London said none of the factories highlighted by TBIJ were on a list of suppliers that BYD had “voluntarily shared” with it. First Bus said that its standards prohibit “forced, compulsory or trafficked labour” and that it was in touch with BYD to investigate. Stagecoach said it had similar policies and standards and emphasised it required all suppliers, including BYD, to follow them. National Express declined to comment.
Tesla, Toyota, Renault, Honda, BYD, SAIC, Dongfeng Motors, Great Wall Motors, Chery, Sanan Optoelectronics and Xincheng Auto Parts did not respond to several requests for comment.
Volkswagen, BMW (which owns Rolls Royce), Nissan, General Motors, Ford, Jaguar-Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz said that they regularly inspect for human rights issues in their supply chains and take steps to investigate whenever concerns are brought to their attention. BMW and Mercedes-Benz noted that they were investigating at least one supplier in response to TBIJ’s investigation. Volkswagen said it was investigating the allegations but could not comment further.