China says investigates child labour accusation

China said yesterday it was looking into allegations that Chinese factories used children to produce merchandising for next year's Beijing Olympics.

The Playfair Alliance said in a report released in London on Monday that children as young as 12 were involved in packaging licensed stationery products for the Games at a factory in southern China.

"The Beijing Organising Committee for the Games (BOCOG) has been contacting the factories cited in the report to verify the accusations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said.

Child labour is illegal and minimal wages are stipulated by law in China, which has signed and ratified several international conventions on labour rights, Qin added.

The Playfair Alliance researched working conditions at four factories in southern China making 2008 Olympic bags, headgear, stationery and other products.

Researchers found some of the workers earned half the legal minimum wage in China and were made to work up to 15 hours per day, seven days a week, in what they called "gross exploitation".