Tesco halts work at Chinese factory over prison labor claim

Source: AP

By GREGORY KATZ

LONDON (AP) — The U.K.-based grocery chain Tesco said it halted production at a factory in China on Sunday after a British newspaper reported the factory used forced labor to produce charity Christmas cards for the supermarket.

Tesco said it also launched an investigation of the Chinese supplier it hired to make the holiday cards, Zheijiang Yunguang Printing, after the Sunday Times raised questions about the factory’s labor practices.

The newspaper said the potentially problematic province of the cards came to light when a 6-year-old girl in south London found a card in her box already had a message written inside.

It read: “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qinqpu prison China forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organization.”



FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 22, 2014 file photo, the sign on a Tesco shop is photographed, in London. The British-based grocery chain Tesco has halted production at a factory in China after a British newspaper said it used forced labor to produce charity Christmas cards. Tesco said Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 it had stopped production and launched an immediate investigation after the Sunday Times newspaper raised questions about the factory's labor practices. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)

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