TUCHENG, Taiwan, May 29 (UPI) -- A string of suicides at a Chinese plant making iPads for Apple highlights the need for the country to examine its economic development ambitions, experts say.
An employee of Foxconn attempted suicide Thursday by slitting his wrists, but survived after medical treatment, Xinhua reported.
Ten employees of the company, which makes computers, game consoles and mobile phones for companies including Apple, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard and Sony, committed suicide this year by jumping from factory buildings, Xinhua said.
Taiwan-based Hon Hai is the parent company of Foxconn, which employs 800,000 employees on the Chinese mainland in massive factory cities where workers work long hours for minimum pay.
Critics say the epidemic of suicides at Foxconn reflects Hon Hai's poor working conditions, including making employees work more than the legal allowance of overtime hours and creating excessive stress on workers with its military-style rigor, The Wall Street Journal reported.
China's traditional export-driven development pattern requires cheap labor churning out low-value-added products, and while such a model can create product and employ people, it cannot generate high profits or pay high wages, analysts say.
