Staff at Chinese factory that makes Labubu toys are being exploited, says rights group

Labour rights campaigners say they have found evidence of worker exploitation in the supply chain of Labubus, the furry toys that took the world by storm last year and are expected to continue to grow in popularity.

- Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent

Labubus - toothy gremlins marketed by the Chinese toy company Pop Mart - have become one of China’s hottest cultural exports. In the first half of 2025, “the Monsters” line of toys, which includes Labubus, generated 4.8bn yuan (£511m) in sales for the Hong Kong-listed company. In August, Pop Mart’s chief executive, Wang Ning, said the company was on track to reach 20bn yuan in revenues in 2025.

According to an investigation by China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based NGO, one of Pop Mart’s suppliers for Labubus has engaged in exploitative workplace practices. They included workers being forced to sign blank contracts, 16and 17-year-olds being employed without the special protections for young workers required by Chinese law, inadequate health and safety training and other labour rights violations at the factory in southeast China’s Jiangxi province.

CLW sent investigators to Shunjia Toys in Xinfeng county in Jiangxi province, a factory employing more than 4,500 people, over threemonths in 2025. The researchers interviewed more than 50 employees, including three under the age of 18. All were working exclusively on Labubus.