Samsung Electronics has resumed business with a Chinese supplier that employed child workers, on the basis that the children were recruited by a labour broker and not directly by the company’s management.

Last month Samsung said it had suspended all business with Shinyang Electronic, which assembled Samsung phone cases in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, after finding evidence of underage workers. This followed a report from the rights group China Labor Watch citing interviews with five 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds working at the plant.

However, Samsung yesterday said that it had decided to lift the suspension on Shinyang because an investigation by Chinese authorities found that the children were hired by a subcontractor, meaning that Shinyang “did not directly hire or did not engage in illegal hiring of child labour”.