ALBAWABA – BYD, the Chinese multinational company known for electric vehicles and batteries, was accused by Brazilian authorities of providing ‘slavery-like conditions’ to its workers. The company's contractor immediately denied the accusations.
BYD and slavery-like accusations
BYD, the famous Chinese company, has a factory in Camacari, Brazil. The company was accused by Brazilian authorities of providing ‘slavery-like conditions’ to its workers. However, Jinjiang Group, a contractor for BYD, denied the accusations immediately.
The contractor explained that these accusations were a result of a translation misunderstanding and are completely untrue.
Jinjiang Group said: “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.”
BYD established its own factory in Brazil, aiming to produce about 150,000 cars in 2024 and 2025. (Shutterstock)
According to Brazilian authorities, approximately 163 Chinese workers were found working under ‘slavery-like conditions.’
BYD stated that they no longer have any connections with the company that hired these workers and denied all related accusations.
Li Yunfei, the General Manager of Branding and Public Relations at BYD, accused other sources of attempting to damage the relationship between China and Brazil, directly impacting well-known Chinese brands like BYD.
It is worth noting that the Chinese embassy in Brazil intervened to address the issue.
BYD factory in Brazil
The company established its own factory in Brazil, aiming to produce about 150,000 cars in 2024 and 2025.
“We are very happy to come to Camacari to work. 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,” said one of the Chinese workers at BYD’s factory.
