Hebei Handan 12-year-old girl Xiaoya (pseudonym) was introduced by her stepmother to work in an unlicensed modeling clay workshop. After working continuously for 13 days, her right arm was caught in a mixer, resulting in a six-grade disability. The court ruled that the factory was responsible for 70% of the accident, but more than a month after the judgment took effect, the compensation has not been paid.
According to a report by The Paper, in June 2025, Xiaoya graduated from elementary school but did not continue to high school due to her aversion to studying. On November 26 of the same year, she was introduced by her stepmother to work in an unlicensed modeling clay workshop in Quzhou County, Handan City. She worked 8 and a half hours a day, earning 30 yuan per day for the first 7 days, 50 yuan per day after mastering the operation, and 100 yuan for night shifts. At that time, she said she wanted to earn money to buy a ticket to a concert of a famous singer.
On the 13th day, in the afternoon of December 8, 2025, while Xiaoya was feeding modeling clay into the machine, her right arm got caught in the mixer, causing an open fracture. After seven and a half months post-surgery, as the broken bone did not heal properly, she had to undergo a second operation. On June 30, 2026, the Labor Capacity Appraisal Committee of Handan City determined that she suffered a six-level disability, not meeting the standards for self-care impairment.
Xiaoya told a reporter from “Cover News” over the phone that her daily work at the workshop involved cutting modeling clay and feeding it into the machine for processing, working 8 and a half hours a day for a normal daily wage of 50 yuan. However, the job did not come with a formal contract, safety training, or adequate protection.
On May 20, 2026, Quzhou County Court ruled in the first instance that the operators of the workshop, Mr. Gao and Mrs. Su, employed immature minors in high-risk operations without providing safety training and protection measures, showing a significant fault. They were ordered to bear 70% of the losses, totaling 72,070.4 yuan; after deducting the prepayment of 10,000 yuan, they still needed to pay 62,070.4 yuan.
The court also determined that the stepmother, knowing that the child was only 12 years old, introduced her to the factory and held 30% of the responsibility as the guardian.
However, this judgment did not lead to prompt relief. Xiaoya’s family stated that the factory paid 10,000 yuan as an advance after the accident and initially promised to cover the subsequent medical expenses, but later refused to continue payment. After the judgment took effect, Mr. Su and Mrs. Gao have not paid the corresponding amount.
Since the labor capacity appraisal was not completed during the first instance, the compensation for the disability was not addressed. The family subsequently applied for labor arbitration, and the case has been transferred to the Arbitration Committee of Handan City. The attorney representing them, Wang Yifan, stated that during the hearing in September this year, the opposing lawyer raised objections to the compliance of the assessment opinions, leading to the suspension of the arbitration hearing, currently awaiting a rescheduled session. For a 12-year-old child, the compensation process continues to be delayed.
On July 15, 2026, the Quzhou County Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security issued an administrative penalty decision, stating that Mr. Gao, the actual operator of the Rubber Clay Processing Factory in Tianshuizhuang Village, Baizhai Town, operated without a business license and employed minors under 16 years of age, constituting illegal use of child labor.
The official ruling confirmed the violation but failed to halt the operation of an illegal workshop before the accident occurred or ensure the prompt execution of the compensation after the judgment. Comments on related reports by netizens highlighted the disproportionate nature between the court’s punishment and the harm suffered by the child.
Meanwhile, public attention is focused on the regulatory chain: did Xiaoya, working continuously for 13 days, come under any labor supervision, town governance, or school dropout intervention mechanism involving this workshop? In the current public notifications, local authorities have not provided an explanation for the longstanding employment of child labor in unlicensed workshops or disclosed the results of an investigation into other child labor cases.
Furthermore, The Paper reported that the workshop employed multiple child laborers. Xiaoya’s stepmother claimed that the implicated illegal workshop had relocated but was still recruiting workers for production, although no evidence was provided to support this claim. A report on child labor-related matters has since been filed.