McDonalds cuts ties with Chinese factory

A factory in southern China has been told to stop producing toys for the fast-food giant McDonalds after investigators found that it had breached a code protecting workers.

Independent monitors were called in after a Hong Kong newspaper reported that the factory City Toys in Shenzhen was paying children as young as fourteen the equivalent of three US dollars to work a sixteen-hour day.

The monitors said interviews failed to reveal evidence of child labour, but it did find wage and working-hour infringements, and other problems such as poor training.

A pressure group in Hong Kong the Christian Industrial Committee says that child labourers were locked in toilets and dormitories while the investigators visited the factory. Executives at McDonalds say their suppliers are working with factory officials to ensure compliance with its code.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service