Foxconn admits employing under age interns in China The company, which makes an estimated 40 per cent of the world's electronics for companies including Apple, Samsung and Sony, admitted it hired the under age workers as part of an internship programme, reflecting a practice rights groups said is widespread among enterprises in China. "This is not only a violation of China's labour law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy," the company said in a statement, referring to Chinese rules that set the legal minimum age for workers at 16. "Immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions," it added. Foxconn, the world's biggest contract manufacturer, said it had carried out a probe at the plant in eastern Shandong province, which showed the interns in question, aged from 14 to 16, had worked in there for about three weeks. The interns had mainly been working on assembly lines at the plant, according to a spokesman. "We have found no evidence of similar violations in any of our other campuses in China but we will not hesitate to take immediate action in any campus if any violations are discovered," it said. Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for NGO China Labour Bulletin, said interns formed a "cheap and convenient source of labour" that vocational schools are only too happy to provide as it helps boost their revenues. The news is the latest in a string of problems to beset Foxconn, which has frequently been targeted for its labour practices following a spate of suicides in 2010 that activists blamed on tough working conditions, prompting calls for better treatment of staff. And earlier this month it was hit by two labour disputes that saw thousands of people go on strike, which China Labour Watch said was over increased product quality levels and demands that staff work through a national holiday.