Chinese workers at a construction site in Brazil for a factory owned by China's electric vehicle producer BYD are victims of human trafficking, Brazilian labor authorities said on Thursday in a growing controversy in BYD's biggest overseas market.

Federal prosecutors in Brazil are weighing possible criminal action after labor inspectors found 163 Chinese workers "in slave-like conditions" at the construction site in the northeast state of Bahia,

RIO DE JANEIRO – Chinese workers found at a construction site for a factory owned by China’s electric vehicle (EV) producer BYD in Brazil’s Bahia state are victims of human trafficking, the Brazilian labour authorities said on Dec 26.

The authorities in Brazil have halted the construction of an electric car factory by the Chinese corporation BYD after an inspection revealed slave-like working conditions. Workers were found sleeping on beds without mattresses,