Firm admits fining workers

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.