China: NGO report explores forced labour risks at 7 battery manufacturing companies and one electric bus manufacturer
"SUPPLY CHAIN SCREENING: Forced Labour at Battery and Electric Bus Manufacturers in China", June 2023
… This report explores forced labour risks at seven battery manufacturing companies; BYD, CATL, Durapower, LG Chem, Panasonic, Samsung, and SK Innovation. Besides battery production we explored upstream links to raw material sources and processing as well as downstream links to electric bus production sites. In this context we included even Yutong, which is a major Chinese electric bus manufacturer yet without an integrated battery production. The purpose of this investigation is to identify and compare forced labour risks associated with the above-named manufacturers.
… We find that:
- BYD performs own business operations in Tibet and in a Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where the risk of political repression and state-imposed forced labour is very high.
- BYD, CATL, and Durapower may be linked to state-imposed forced labour in Xinjiang via their joint-venture partners or shareholders, which perform own business activities in cooperation with Xinjiang-based mining and processing enterprises.
- Samsung, LG Chem, and Panasonic may be linked to state-imposed forced labour in Xinjiang through products, operations or services from suppliers.
- BYD, LG Chem, and Panasonic may be contributing to state-imposed forced labour as they participated in labour transfer programs in Western and Central China.
- At Yutong, forced labour risks are mainly linked to a supplier contract with CATL providing batteries for all of the companies electric buses at least until 2032.
We identified a total of 28 labour transfers involving three of the investigated manufacturers. Note these manufacturers have various products and production lines that are not related to battery or ebuses. There is not enough information to determine where workers are employed. Information about labour transfers, therefore, represent risk indicators for forced labour at these manufacturers in general but not for battery or ebus production specifically…