Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has been added to Brazil's official forced labour blacklist after 163 Chinese workers were found in conditions analogous to slavery at the construction site of its new factory in Camaçari, Bahia, in 2024.
According to Reuters, the listing, which can restrict access to financing from Brazilian public banks, comes as the company ramps up production at its only local plant, the facility the workers were recruited to build.
The inclusion, confirmed by Brazil's Ministry of Labour and Employment, came as part of a semiannual update to the Cadastro de Empregadores — a public registry of employers found to have subjected workers to slave-like conditions — which added 169 new names and brought the total to 613.
The registry is published every April and October and is used by companies and financial institutions for risk management, including credit approval decisions. In practice, inclusion can restrict access to financing from public banks.
BYD's entry follows a series of labour inspections carried out between December 2024 and May 2025 at the Camaçari site, where the company is building its first Brazilian factory, a BRL5.5bn ($1.08bn) investment inaugurated in October 2025 focused on electric and hybrid vehicle production, housed in the former Ford industrial complex.
During an inspection on December 19, 2024, authorities identified 471 Chinese workers who had entered Brazil irregularly, of whom 163 were rescued from conditions inspectors classified as analogous to slavery.
Workers were found sleeping in filthy beds without mattresses, with no wardrobes, forced to keep personal belongings mixed with tools and food. In one dormitory, a single bathroom served 31 people, compelling workers to wake at 4am to prepare for shifts. Kitchens operated in insalubrious conditions, with food stored next to construction materials.
Daily working hours ran to a minimum of ten hours without regular rest days, and one injured worker reported going 25 consecutive days without a day off. Workers also required authorisation to leave the site, including for something as basic as going to a market.
Inspectors concluded that the Chinese EV giant bore direct responsibility for the irregular entry of the 471 workers and that, despite the company having presented subcontracting agreements, the workers were in practice directly subordinated to BYD, establishing an employment relationship under Brazilian labour law.
Auditors also identified evidence of fraud against Brazil's immigration authorities, with the workers brought in on visas for specialised services that did not correspond to the construction work they actually performed.
In January, BYD reached a BRL40mn ($7.84mn) settlement with Brazil's Labour Prosecution Service covering the workers rescued and a collective moral damages fund.
That agreement closed a civil public action but does not automatically remove BYD from the blacklist, which requires two years without new violations and full regularisation of the employer's situation.
The case is particularly sensitive in Brazil, hitting a nerve in a nation that was the last in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888 and today maintains rigorous labour standards. BYD did not respond to requests for comment.
China's foreign ministry said in response to the listing that the country "attaches great importance to protecting the rights and interests of workers" and that Chinese companies are always required to comply with local laws and regulations.
Employers are only added to the registry after an administrative process has been fully concluded with no further right of appeal. Names remain on the list for two years, though a 2024 ministerial order introduced the possibility of early removal for employers who sign a conduct adjustment agreement and commit to compensating victims with at least 20 minimum wages and investing in support programmes for rescued workers.
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