Foxconn Group Employee Falls to Death at Chinese Factory, Xinhua Reports

A Foxconn Technology Group worker in China died from a fall today, months after a spate of similar fatalities at the electronics maker, the official Xinhua News Agency reported

No further information was immediately available, Xinhua said, citing the Shenzhen municipal government.

Foxconn, which makes electronics for customers ranging from Apple Inc. to Hewlett-Packard Co., doubled wages for its production workers and installed nets around dormitories in Shenzhen after at least 10 Chinese workers committed suicide this year. The last confirmed death was in August.

The deaths prompted labor groups including China Labor Watch to say the company is running a sweatshop that pushes employees to work long hours to earn more money. Foxconn has denied the allegation.

Edmund Ding, a spokesman for Taiwan’s Foxconn, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Lee in Hong Kong at wlee37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

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Foxconn City

Thomas Lee/Bloomberg

Buildings sit behind a safety fence at the Longhua Science and Technology Park, also known as Foxconn City, in Shenzhen.

Buildings sit behind a safety fence at the Longhua Science and Technology Park, also known as Foxconn City, in Shenzhen. Photographer: Thomas Lee/Bloomberg