On December 26, 2024, a drone captured the construction site of BYD’s new electric vehicle (EV) factory in Camacari, Brazil.
Joya Sousa | Reuters
Chinese workers found at a construction site at a factory of Chinese electric car maker BYD in the Brazilian state of Bahia were victims of human trafficking, Brazilian labor authorities said on Thursday.
BYD The Brazilian Labor Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement after a meeting with representatives of the two companies that the company and the contractor Jinjiang Group had agreed to provide 163 workers were assisted and housed in the hotel until an agreement to terminate the contract was reached.
BYD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters was unable to reach Jinjiang for comment outside normal business hours.
However, the companies disputed authorities’ assessment, first announced on December 23, that workers were working in “slavery-like conditions”.
The two sides are scheduled to meet again on January 7, the statement said. A deal proposal put forward by labor prosecutors will be submitted to both companies.
The deal could shield BYD and Jinjiang from investigations by labor prosecutors, but they could still face scrutiny from labor inspectors and federal prosecutors, who are demanding the sharing of evidence in order to “take measures in the criminal field.”
BYD has been building a factory in Bahia that will initially produce 150,000 vehicles as part of plans to start production in early 2025 in Brazil, the Chinese electric car company’s biggest overseas market.
The factory has become an important symbol of China’s growing influence in Brazil and a model for closer ties between the two countries. BYD has invested approximately US$620 million in the comprehensive construction of the Bahia plant alone.
Reports of irregularities in Bahia could become a major sticking point in relations between the two countries.
Brazil has long sought more Chinese investment. But China’s model of bringing Chinese workers to countries where it invests poses a challenge to local job creation, a top priority of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
