Boy's death focuses attention on child labor

The tragic death of a 14-year-old working at a factory in Dongguan emphasizes how much needs to be done to eradicate child labor.

The unexplained death of a 14-year-old boy at an electronics factory in Dongguan, Guangdong province, has led to renewed calls to eliminate child labor in China, where World Day against Child Labour is celebrated on Wednesday.

Liufu Zong was in his Dongguan Jinchuan Electronics Co Ltd dormitory and did not wake up at about 7 am, on May 21.

Zong's roommates said they checked to see if he was all right when he did not wake, but his body was cold, so they rushed him to hospital.

They added he returned to the dormitory around 10 pm the night before and seemed normal.

Police investigating the case discovered the boy concealed his real name and age from his employer.

A third-party employment agency sent Zong to the electronics factory using an identity card in the name of "Su Longda", who is older than 18.

According to China's labor law, 16 is the minimum age for employment.

"It was difficult for us to determine that the boy was underage and he looked similar to the individual pictured on the ID card," commented Cheng Yun, the human resources director at Dongguan Jinchuan Electronics.

Cheng said the company has about 600 contract employees, and about 300 others who signed contracts with employment agencies.

The boy's father, Liufu Kuanyuan, said Zong was always healthy before he headed to Dongguan as a migrant worker.

"My son was healthy before he left home. He took cold showers during the winter and he rarely had colds or fevers," he said, though he did add he was shorter and thinner than his peers.

Liu said he believed his son dropped dead due to overwork.

"He worked about four or five extra hours every day. How can a 14-year-old bear working so long?"

He said he had advised his son over the phone to quit the job since he often complained that it was exhausting.

HR director Cheng, however, believes that Zong's death may have been due to his lifestyle.

"I heard from his roommates that he often went to Internet cafes and occasionally would not return to the dormitory. When he did stay in he often played with his phone until late at night."

However, Cheng confessed that her company did not provide health checks when recruiting workers and instead only asked employment agencies to send "healthy workers".

Deng Zhijian, a Chang'an township human resources bureau official, in Dongguan, said records showed workers often did overtime at the electronics factory.

Zong's job was to test computer motherboards and he was paid 11 yuan ($1.79) an hour, and worked about 50 extra hours a month, after starting work on March 1.

Compensation dispute

Zong dropped out from school age 12. He helped his farmer father provide for the family of six, which included a grandfather in his 80s, two younger half-brothers and his poorly stepmother.

He took part-time jobs with his father in nearby villages doing construction work, until February, when he went to the industrial city of Dongguan with friends.