(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-14 11:22

BEIJING -- Eleven children and 19 workers have been rescued after a crackdown campaign against illegal employment in enterprises in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The campaign, launched in July following the exposure of the forced labor scandal in the provinces of Shanxi and Henan, has investigated in nearly 2,000 cases in violation of China's labor protection laws, according to a report carried by www.xinnews.com on Tuesday.

More than 1,130 employers were ordered to sign contracts with nearly 43,000 workers, buy securities for 21,500 others, and pay overdue salaries and compensation totaling 1.7 million yuan (225,000 U.S. dollars) to 955 employees, the report cited the provincial administration of labor and social welfare.

Employers of two companies that forced laborers to work under grueling conditions without pay had been seriously punished, it said.

Chinese police have rescued 1,340 people from forced labour since the notorious brick kiln forced labor scandal came to light in June, sparking nationwide outrage.