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Brazil puts China's BYD on list of shame for workers' past slavery-like conditions
The listing bars some bank financing and adds reputational risk after inspectors found 163 workers in degrading conditions at a BYD plant project.
- The Brazilian Labor Ministry added Chinese automaker BYD to a registry of employers linked to labor conditions similar to slavery, following a 2024 human trafficking and abusive contract scandal.
- Labor inspectors discovered that workers hired by contractor Jinjiang Group faced "degrading conditions," including confiscated passports, mandatory $900 deposits, and housing where Thirty-one laborers shared one bathroom.
- While BYD claims it lacked knowledge of violations until reports in late 2025, contractor Jinjiang Group has denied the labor abuse allegations entirely.
- The registry listing bars BYD from certain Brazilian bank loans for two years, though operations continue at its Camacari factory, which has produced over 25,000 vehicles.
- President Luiz Inacio Lula inaugurated the plant in 2025, showcasing strengthening ties between Brazil and China that persist despite these labor concerns.
24 Articles
24 Articles
Brazil blacklists BYD for slave labour conditions at its biggest plant outside China
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's labour ministry on Tuesday added Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD (Build Your Dreams) to a registry of employers found to have subjected workers to conditions analogous to slavery, limiting access to state financing and increasing reputational risks in its most important market outside China.
The Chinese company BYD, one of the leading manufacturers of electric cars in the world, has just been included by Brazil in the so-called dirty list of the Ministry of Labour, which includes companies and people who have subjected their employees to jobs similar to modern slavery, reports this Tuesday the newspaper Folha de S.Paulo. The inclusion occurs year and a half after more than 160 workers who built a BYD factory in Camaçari, in the stat…
Brazil puts BYD on list over workers’ past slavery-like conditions
Brazil has put China's BYD on a registry of employers who have subjected workers to conditions similar to slavery, after a 2024 scandal in which Chinese workers were said to have been victims of human trafficking and abusive contracts. Joshua Lim has more.
The projects of the brands of Chinese vehicles in Brazil result in more than the volume of production — they promote the electricalization of vehicles in the country and thus require an ecosystem of development centres, tests, adaptations, maintenance and recharge, all dependent on qualified employment. Present and future economic relations: The event discusses opportunities in Brazil-China Veja relations: how China restores the car industry and…
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