By 2015, Foxconn hopes to complete the construction of its headquarters in Lujiazui, which the company will use as a hub for its manufacturing and commercial operations. more ›

Apple's labour practices have been under the spotlight a lot this year since a monologue by Mike Daisey published by the podcast This American Life gained widespread interest and led to international protests against the manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad. The monologue was eventually retracted after This American Life found Daisey to have fabricated numerous details in his report, thanks to the investigative work of Rob Schmitz, China correspondent of Marketplace. more ›

Chen Xilong (陈锡隆), one of the victims fortunate enough to survive, is suffering from massive memory loss and impaired cognition, while also experiencing great difficulty in speaking, in addition to other serious symptoms. When asked what one plus two is, he gave the answer "four" and reportedly smiled afterwards. more ›

In Apple CEO Tim Cook's keynote presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference in San Francisco Tuesday, he responded to complaints about working conditions in Chinese factories and notes how these would be improved: more ›

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An explosion took place last weekend at a Shanghai-based Apple factory, making it the third lethal incident at an Apple factory in only 15 months. The incident has left roughly 60 people injured and is currently under investigation by Chinese authorities. more ›

A 46-page report from the IPE shows the results of five months of research and field investigations on pollution emission from Apple's factories, revealing that the company has been seriously encroaching on local communities and their surrounding environments. more ›

Thousands of workers in Dongguan, Guangdong Province staged a massive strike against new regulations imposed by their factory management on Thursday. Thousands of workers besieged their factory in Dongguan's Huangjiang Township and blockaded the town's main road. At one point, protesters were said to have numbered over 10,000. Conflicts broke out between riot police and protesting workers as the police tried to prevent workers from approaching the government building. Dozens of workers reportedly suffered head wounds after they were beaten by riot police. more ›

• A fire in a four-story clothing factory in Beijing early this morning killed 17 and injured at least 24 in yet another tragedy caused by illegal construction practices. Those killed were all migrant workers.
• Rescue workers are scrambling to reach eight miners trapped underground after an explosion rocked their facility in Guizhou this morning.
• An explosion in a pesticide plant in Guangxi caused three known injuries. Fires engulfed 3,000 meters and two warehouses. Two harmful chemicals have been confirmed on site, and authorities have cordoned off the factory awaiting further tests.

Huh! A Chinese owned company has set up a factory in America? What is with this crazy role reversal I hear you ask? According to Fortune Magazine, it has started to become cheaper for some Chinese companies to set up large plants in America than it is for them to set the same sized plant up in Shanghai. American Yuncheng Gravure Cylinder plant, Chinese owned, bought the land in Spartanburg, USA for $350,000, one fourth of the cost for the same sized property back in Shanghai or Dongguan, where the company already has factories. As the yuan continues to rise in the days ahead, we're sure this will not be the last we hear of Chinese companies saving money in this way. more ›

Though it was inevitably bound to happen, China officially surpassed Germany as the world's largest exporter by actually increasing their exports for the first time in fourteen months, which is no small feat in the beleaguered global economy. China's ascension to the top of the global supply chain came after official statistics were released for December: impressively, China managed to increase their exports by over 17% since this time last year. And while we can't imagine ever doubting the government's statistics, we have to wonder: with all this economic turmoil, exactly who's buying all these new goods? more ›

Shanghai-based photographer Andreas Larsson takes us around the Suzhou production facilities of Lelo, a Swedish high-end sex toy label that manufactures adult toys for upwardly mobile women. We hear they're known for producing dildos so cute you'll want to put them into your handbag and carry them with you wherever you go. Now who says you can't be horny and classy at the same time? more ›

As we told you earlier, mysterious fumes that turned out to be caused by leaking herbicide, spread through Shanghai earlier this month, sending two women to hospital. The source of it was found to be three hundred kilograms of liquid herbicide, that leaked from a valve at the Shanghai Pesticide Factory. According to Shanghai Daily nine people from the factory including the general manager, have been fired because of this incident. The paper also notes that during the investigation of this case "the Shanghai Commission of Safety Production found 82 unqualified production units, including some plants that are producing dangerous chemicals". more ›

WARNING: The video on the right contains footage of someone dying and as such may be disturbing to viewers. more ›

A group of 1,800 angry workers demanding overdue pay at a cotton mill in Xinhe, Chongming Island have held seven top managers of the Korean-owned mill hostage since Friday, including the chief executive officer of the factory. The news was reported in the Korean Chosun Ilbo, and as Fons Tuinstra of China Herald notes, the Chinese media has been silent on the story because "Chinese media cannot write about such unharmonious behavior". Our own search... more ›