The government of Dongguan City in south China's Guangdong Province has launched an investigation into a stationary company that is suspected of using child labor to produce Olympic-licensed products.

A local government source told Xinhua on Tuesday a task force was set up and the company Lekit Stationary Co. would be dealt with according to law if any illegal activities were discovered.

A preliminary investigation found that Lekit, which won contracts for making Olympic-licensed products in July 2006, outsourced some orders to another company, Leter Stationary, during February.

Leter Stationary factory and Lekit Stationary are neighbors but their exact relationship has yet to be determined.

Leter is accused of hiring a dozen students from a local primary school to pack and finish the company's orders. The students worked six days and were each paid 20 yuan (US$2.6) a day.

Lekit Stationary denies that the outsourced orders were connected to Olympic-licensed products.

The Dongguan task force said they have not found any goods in Leter that were related to Olympic-licensed products.

The Dongguan government said that they would make the results of their investigation public and start a campaign to fight child labor in the city soon.

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics have stressed that the use of child labor is strictly forbidden in the production of Olympic-licensed products and vowed to probe any allegation of labor abuse.

Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press conference Tuesday that China is looking into the accusation and the Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games (BOCOG) will severely punish enterprises that violate the regulations.

China has approved conventions on equal pay for work of equal value, prohibition of child labor and elimination of job discrimination.

(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2007)