He Xiangjian

For the first time in the documented record, a major-brand's own factories — not just its supply chain — were identified as directly participating in the Chinese government's Xinjiang "labor transfer" program. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, in a joint investigation with The New York Times and Der Spiegel published in May 2025, named Midea Group as one of the brands whose own plants operated the transfer program. Midea did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Chinese government's Xinjiang labor transfer program is documented by the U.S. Congress, the Department of Labor, and human rights researchers as structurally coercive: workers are recruited through state pressure described by researchers as mandatory, transported thousands of miles from their families and communities, and subjected to surveillance, political education, and restrictions on movement and communication. The U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (2021) codifies a legal presumption — rebuttable by clear and convincing evidence — that goods manufactured under this program involve forced labor. A plastics supplier producing for Midea was separately identified as employing Xinjiang transfer workers, creating supply chain liability on top of the direct-operations liability. He Xiangjian had formally retired from Midea's operational management in 2012. He retains controlling shareholder status. He is the ultimate financial beneficiary of the company's operations. No criminal charges have been filed.

• —TBIJ/NYT/Der Spiegel (May 2025): Midea Group own factories named as directly operating the Uyghur worker transfer program — not just suppliers.
• —First investigation to document that major brand-owned facilities (not just supply chain) directly participated in the state transfer program.
• —Midea did not respond to multiple requests for comment from investigators. Haier, TCL, and De'Longhi also declined.
• —Xinjiang labor transfer program: workers recruited through state pressure, transported far from communities, subjected to surveillance, political education, and movement restrictions.
• —U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA, 2021): legal presumption that goods from the program involve forced labor.
• —Midea plastics supplier also identified as employing Xinjiang transfer workers — supply chain liability in addition to direct-operations liability.
• —He Xiangjian stepped down from operational management 2012; retains controlling shareholder status and board influence.
• —No criminal charges filed. No U.S. regulatory action against Midea directly as of 2025.

In October 2013, Tan Jiehong, a 16-year-old student from Dali Yanbu Vocational and Technical College in Foshan, Guangdong, died after being placed at a Midea air conditioner factory under a mandatory "work experience" program. His father reported that the student was assigned 12-hour days without prior notice and was denied time off when he became ill. A Midea factory employee confirmed to Radio Free Asia that 10-hour shifts were required of students. The school told students that refusing the factory placement would bar them from graduating — a mechanism Radio Free Asia identified as standard operating practice in China's vocational school labor placement system, which effectively functions as a low-cost labor pipeline to local manufacturers. Neither the school nor Midea accepted responsibility for Tan Jiehong's death. He Xiangjian had formally retired from Midea's operations the previous year, in 2012. The incident did not result in criminal charges against the company. The practices documented — mandatory placement, coerced hours, no recourse for illness — are systemic rather than attributable to a single directive, which is itself part of the record.

• —Tan Jiehong, 16, student from Dali Yanbu Vocational and Technical College (Foshan, Guangdong): died after 10-12 hour standing shifts at Midea AC factory.
• —Father reported: student assigned 12-hour days without notification; denied time off when ill.
• —Midea factory employee confirmed to Radio Free Asia: 10-hour shifts required of students.
• —School coercion mechanism: students told refusal to participate in factory placement would bar graduation.
• —Radio Free Asia: this coercion mechanism is standard in China's vocational school labor placement system — a structural pipeline of low-cost labor to manufacturers.
• —Neither the school nor Midea accepted responsibility for the death.
• —He Xiangjian had formally retired from operational management in 2012 — the year before this incident.
• —No criminal charges filed against Midea or the school. The systemic practice documented continued.

In 2017, Midea faced civil lawsuits in the United States alleging that millions of defective air conditioner and humidifier units — manufactured by Midea for sale under American consumer brand names — posed safety risks. The suits alleged that Midea failed to honor its recall replacement obligations for affected consumers. This is a lower-weight charge relative to the forced labor findings documented above. It is included because it represents a pattern of consumer harm under Midea's own manufacture: defects shipped at scale, recall remedies not provided. The suits were civil, not criminal. No finding of liability has been documented in the public record at the level of specificity available for the forced labor charges.

• —2017: U.S. civil lawsuits alleged millions of defective air conditioner/humidifier units manufactured by Midea for American consumer brands.
• —Allegation: company failed to honor recall replacement obligations for affected consumers.
• —Note: lower-weight charge. Civil suits, not criminal. No criminal conviction documented.
• —Pattern of note: defects shipped at scale to U.S. market; recall remedies withheld.