BYD contractor denies slavery conditions; there was a translation error

Shanghai. Jinjiang Group, a contractor for Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, said Thursday that Brazilian authorities’ description of its employees as enslaved was inconsistent with the facts and that there were translation misunderstandings.

Brazilian labor authorities said Wednesday they found 163 Chinese nationals working in slavery-like conditions at a construction site for a factory owned by BYD in the Brazilian state of Bahia. BYD then said it had cut ties with the company that hired the workers and was cooperating with authorities.

“Being unfairly labeled ‘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.

Li Yunfei, BYD’s general manager of brand and public relations, shared the statement on his own Weibo account. Li Yunfei accused foreign forces and some Chinese media deliberately defaming Chinese brands and the country and undermining the relationship between China and Brazil.

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

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

Brazil would increase tariffs on imported electric vehicles from 18 percent currently to 35 percent in July 2026.

On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said the Chinese embassy in Brazil was communicating with its Brazilian counterparts to verify the situation.