By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-08 09:02

DONGGUAN, Guangdong - Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd, owned by one of the richest women in the country, Cheung Yan, admitted it imposed fines totaling 1.07 million yuan ($152,000) on its workers last year.

However, Cheung said the company had also spent more than 10 times that amount on meal subsidies and health checks.

Cheung was responding to a report released last month by the Hong Kong-based Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM), and two Hong Kong university student unions, which condemned her factory as a sweatshop and "shameful among Hong Kong-funded companies" for its unsafe working conditions, poor welfare and violation of labor laws.

SACOM's report aroused much public interest as Cheung's company is also one of the leading packaging paperboard suppliers in the world.

Cheung said her company is capital and technology-intensive rather than labor-intensive.

"Though we have only 7,000 workers in Dongguan, our industrial output was 9.8 billion yuan in the last fiscal year.

"The feed-in plant is what the SACOM has condemned most; however, I can assure that the working conditions in the plant is at least equal to or even better than those in developed countries," Cheung said.

She said all the wastepaper recycled by her company is imported from developed countries. It is selected before being imported, subject to an examination by the authorities, and sterilized before use.

"We appreciate the efforts and responsibility of SACOM and the university students to supervise corporate behavior; however, we really regret that their report is too far from the facts," Cheung said.

She said the company's lowest-paid worker earned between 1,500 yuan and 2,400 yuan a month last year compared to the average monthly income of 960 yuan for workers in the city, in addition to pension and other benefits.

She said the company spent 76.4 million yuan on living facilities at the Dongguan base, in addition to money on staff entertainment and food.

She said it all added up to 19.5 million yuan last year.

Cheung admitted her company used to impose fines to ensure work safety, but also rewarded those that contributed toward that safety.

The company had so far paid 21 million yuan in bonuses to those who contributed to the work safety, and for outstanding performance.

The Guangdong provincial trade unions said there were no major violations like those mentioned in the SACOM report, but minor mistakes like fines did exist. It said the company had begun to correct the mistakes.