SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Jinjiang Group, a contractor for Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD, said on Thursday (26) that the description by Brazilian authorities that its employees were subjected to “conditions analogous to slavery” is inconsistent with the facts and that there are misunderstandings in the translation.
On Wednesday, a team of tax auditors worked in “conditions similar to slavery” at a construction site at a factory owned by BYD in Bahia. who hired the employees and who was working with the authorities.
“Being unfairly labeled as ‘enslaved’ made our employees feel that their dignity was insulted and their human rights violated, seriously hurting the dignity of the Chinese people. We signed a joint letter to express our true feelings,” Jinjiang said on its official Weibo account.
The statement was reposted by Li Yunfei, general manager of brand and public relations at BYD, on his own Weibo account. He accused “foreign forces” and some Chinese media outlets of “deliberately defaming Chinese brands and the country and undermining the relationship between China and Brazil.”
A BYD representative directed 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 is building the factory with an annual production capacity of 150,000 cars initially in Brazil, the Chinese electric vehicle giant’s biggest overseas market, as part of plans to begin production in 2024 or early 2025.
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Brazil will increase tariffs on imported electric vehicles from 18% to 35% in July 2026.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the Chinese embassy in Brazil was communicating with Brazilian counterparts to verify the situation and deal with it.
Jinjiang said there were translation problems and cultural differences that led to the situation, and that the Brazilian auditors’ questions were “suggestive.” She also published a video showing a group of Chinese workers in front of the camera, with one of them reading a letter that, according to Jinjiang, the workers signed together.
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The letter said, for example, that 107 workers had handed over their passports to the company for help in applying for a temporary identity certificate in Brazil. Brazilian auditors said the workers had their passports withheld by the company.
“We are very happy to come to Camaçari to work,” declared an unidentified Chinese man in the video.
“We have complied with laws and regulations, working hard during the period with the hope that the construction of the largest new energy vehicle project in Brazil can be completed as quickly as possible,” he added.
