Factory construction shut down for EV car giant over worries about working conditions. Live from the UK,

this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. In Fuliana Burn, I'm Sarah Rogers. Good morning.

And we're starting with the car industry. Authorities in Brazil have stopped construction of a factory for Chinese

EV maker, BYD. Officials alleged staff were kept in slave-like conditions after being brought

into the country illegally. The BBC's Mariko Oy is in Singapore, so this is about working conditions,

isn't it? Yeah, quite a shocking revelation that Brazilian officials have basically said that they've

rescued 163 Chinese nationals who've been working in what they described as slavery-like conditions

at a construction site for a factory that's owned by BID, which has been doing extremely well,

operated by a Chinese company called Jinjiang Construction.

The authorities, the Brazilian authorities have since shut down the construction sites as well as

accommodation. They said that they've been inspecting them since the middle of November.

Some of the descriptions in the ministry's announcement are quite shocking.

Beds without mattresses, for example, no lockers for personal belongings, only one bathroom

for every 31 workers.

And also they were forced to wake up at 4 a.m. to form a line and be ready to leave for work

at 5.30 in the morning.

One worker who got injured didn't have a day off for 25 days in a row.

Also, the authorities found that workers had to pay a deposit

and much of their wages and passports have been withheld by the company.

And Mariko, what's B.D said about this?

So BYD has said that it's terminated, its ties with

Jinjiang construction and saying that they would do everything they counterprotect the rights

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