Samsung to inspect its China suppliers

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SEOUL, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- South Korean's Samsung Electronics says it will make on-site inspections of all its suppliers in China to ensure compliance with applicable labor laws.

The announcement after the New York-based labor rights group China Labor Watch alleged last month that HEG Electronics, a Samsung supplier in Huizhou in Guangdong province-had employed children under the age of 16, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.

Samsung said an inspection team of around 100 Samsung employees would be dispatched from Samsung headquarters in Seoul to China.

Samsung said an earlier investigation of working conditions at HEG identified workers under the age of 18 at the facility but they were student workers or interns over the age of 16, whose presence is legal in China.

However, Samsung said, an audit of the HEG Electronics revealed management failings and potentially unsafe practices.

The South Korean company said it would inspect all 105 suppliers in China who manufacture products only for Samsung and an additional 144 suppliers in China that make products for Samsung and other firms.