A factory in Huidong County in Huizhou City was shut down Sunday for using child labor, the Guangzhou Daily reported.

A total of 35 children were found making electronic toys in a 50-quare-meter illegal household factory, sources from the county's industrial and commercial administration said.

All the children, aged from 11 to 16, were dismissed and the factory owner faces a fine of 350,000 (US$42,322) for violating labor laws.

The factory, which started production without a license on July 10 this year, was poorly equipped.

It provided semi-finished electronic toys for a Shenzhen factory, the boss, surnamed Li, said.

The children were paid 0.5 yuan for processing one toy, an officer surnamed He from the county's Labor Inspection Team said. The highest pay for 10 days work was 110 yuan, while the lowest was only 3.2 yuan, He said.

(Shenzhen Daily August 24, 2004)