BYD contractor denies 'slavery-like conditions' claims by Brazilian authorities

Shanghai/Beijing: Jinjiang Group, a contractor for Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, said on Thursday Brazilian authorities' portrayal of their employees as "enslaved" was inconsistent with the facts and that there were translation misunderstandings.

Brazilian labor authorities had on Wednesday said they found 163 Chinese nationals working in "slavery-like conditions" at a construction site for a BYD-owned factory in Brazil's Bahia state. BYD said then that it had cut ties with the firm that hired the workers and was working with authorities.

"Being unjustly labeled as 'enslaved' has made our employees feel that their dignity has been insulted and their human rights violated, seriously hurting the dignity of the Chinese people. We have signed a joint letter to express our true feelings," Jinjiang said on its official Weibo account.

Their statement was reposted by Li Yunfei, general manager of branding and public relations at BYD, on his own Weibo account. He accused "foreign forces" and some Chinese media of "deliberately smearing Chinese brands and the country and undermining the relationship between China and Brazil".

A BYD representative directed Reuters to Li's Weibo post when asked about Jinjiang's comments and the situation. Jinjiang did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

BYD has been building the factory with an annual capacity of producing 150,000 cars initially in Brazil, the Chinese EV giant's largest overseas market, as part of plans to start production there in 2024 or early 2025.

Brazil is poised to hike tariffs on imported EVs to 35 per cent in July 2026 from 18 per cent currently.

On Wednesday, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Chinese embassy in Brazil was communicating with Brazilian counterparts to verify the situation and handle it.

Jinjiang said there had been translation and cultural difference issues that had led to the situation, and that the questions from the Brazilian inspectors had been "suggestive". It also posted a video showing a group of Chinese workers in front of the camera with one of them reading out a letter that Jinjiang said the workers have jointly signed.

The letter said, for instance, that 107 workers had handed their passports to the company for help with applying for a temporary ID certificate in Brazil. The Brazilian labor inspectors had said that the workers had had their passports withheld by the company.

"We are very happy to come to Camacari to work," an unidentified Chinese male said in the video.

"We have been complying with laws and regulations, working hard during the period with a hope that the construction of the biggest new energy vehicle project in Brazil could be completed as soon as possible," he added.