SOUTH KOREAN transnational corporation Samsung announced today that it had suspended business ties with a Chinese supplier that allegedly hired children.

The world’s biggest smartphone maker said that it had found possible evidence of child labour and illegal hiring at Dongguan Shinyang Electronics Co.

Samsung undertook last week to look urgently into the supplier following a China Labour Watch report that it hired five children under the age of 16.

Underage workers had been employed at Shinyang for three to six months to meet production targets during a period of high demand.

The child workers were paid for 10 hours a day but worked 11 hours.

The report detailed 15 workplace violations discovered during its investigation, including child labour, absence of safety training, no overtime pay and no social insurance for temporary workers.

These staff constituted at least 40 per cent of the 1,200 employees at the mobile phone parts supplier.