Toy Factories Investigations

Labubu, Unboxed: the labor behind the global toy phenomenon

Downdload Full Report Overview In 2025, a small, fang-toothed, wide-eyed designer toy known as Labubu emerged as a global cultural phenomenon. Created by artist Kasing Lung and then licensed by designer toy company Pop Mart, Labubu products have sold out rapidly across Asia, Europe, and North America, generating long queues and viral attention. In the summer and fall of 2025, China Labor Watch conducted an in-depth investigation into a Labubu factory, Shunjia Toys Co. Ltd. at Xinfeng County, a core…

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China Labor Watch Investigation Finds Labor Violations at Labubu Toy Factory Supplying Pop Mart

China Labor Watch (CLW) has released the findings of an in-depth investigation into Shunjia Toys Co., Ltd., a major original equipment manufacturer (OEM) producing Labubu designer toys for Pop Mart, revealing widespread labor rights violations at a core manufacturing facility in Xinfeng County, Jiangxi Province. Labubu, a fang-toothed designer toy created by artist Kasing Lung and licensed by Pop Mart, emerged in 2025 as a global cultural phenomenon, selling out rapidly across Asia, Europe, and North America. The toy’s popularity…

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China Labor Watch Raises Serious Concerns Over Alleged Labor Violations at Foxconn iPhone 17 Factory 

China Labor Watch Investigation Reveals Labor Conditions at Foxconn Zhengzhou Raises Labor Rights Concerns in Apple’s iPhone 17 Supply Chain. Report finds over half of workforce are dispatch workers, with other issues include wage withholding, excessive overtime, discrimination, and dispatch workers with student status forced onto night shifts. New York, September 25, 2025 — China Labor Watch (CLW) today released a new investigative report, Apple’s Dependence on China in Its Supply Chain: An Investigation of Foxconn Zhengzhou. During the manufacturing…

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The Hypocrisy of Barbie’s Feminism – Labor Conditions of Working Class Women in a Mattel Factory in China

Download Full Report Executive Summary:   The Hypocrisy of Barbie’s Feminism: Labor Conditions of Working Class Women in a Mattel Factory in China In 2023, the Mattel-backed film featuring Barbie dominated the global Box Office, resonating with audiences globally due to its progressive feminist themes. Unsurprisingly, the sale of Barbie dolls boomed shortly after the movie’s release. While Mattel reaps significant financial rewards from Barbie’s cultural prominence, questions arise regarding the increased demand for the toys: where are these toys…

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Workers in Misery: An Investigation into Two Toy Factories

Download the Report Thousands of toys are sold each day, bringing joy, happiness and smiles to the faces of children. At the same time, workers in toy factories in Guangdong Province, China struggle to cope with the high-pressure environment and the long working day. One of the workers is so exhausted because of the high production targets every day, that her body ached all over, and she could not help but cry in the dormitories. Another female worker was sexually…

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The Dark Side of the Glittering World: A Report on Exploitation in Toy Factories in China

Download the Report Executive Summary 1) Context: the Left-Behinds of the Chinese Economic Miracle From the late 1970’s, China’s economy has enjoyed 30 years of explosive growth. With its 1.4 billion inhabitants, it is now the world’s largest economy. This economic miracle, now on everyone’s lips, has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty and made China a key player in globalization. A middle class, consuming goods and services, and confident in its potential for enrichment has emerged. But…

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A Nightmare for Workers: Appalling Conditions in Toy Factories Persist

Download the report Executive Summary To this day, most toys are made in China. They are the source of children’s dreams all over the world. However the process through which these dreams are created remains a nightmare. Countless hours of overtime, contact with dangerous chemicals and poor wages barely enough to live on are some of the biggest problems. This report reveals violations found in four factories that produce, among others, for the biggest toy brands Hasbro, Disney, and Mattel…

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The Dark Side of the Toy World

Download the report Press Release On August 11, 2017, China Labor Watch dispatched investigators to four toy factories in China, including Shaoguan Early Light, Dongguan Changan Mattel, Dongguan Qualidux (Guangda), Shenzhen Winson (Taiqiang). These factories primarily supply for Walmart, Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, Target, Big Lots, Costco, Bandai, Infantino, Zoli, Combi, TOMY, Hama, Lanvin, and other companies. Many of these brand companies have promised to uphold the rights of factory workers, establishing codes of conduct. Yet our findings suggest that they…

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An Investigation into Four Toy Sweatshops

Download the report The world of toys is a heaven for children, but may be a world of misery for toy factory workers. Workers have to be apart from their loved ones: children, parents and their better half. They put in 11 hours every day, and work 6 or 7 days a week, but earn only the minimum wage standard as stipulated by law in harmful and toxic working environments. 10 workers are squeezed into a small dormitory room, and…

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