Does Alibaba help against child labor or sweatshops?

China is one big sweatshop. I'm pretty sure you have stuff in your house that has came out of a sweat shop. There is no real way to know. You should have told your friend, "are you sure you didn't brush your teeth with a brush that came off a child back?'

This matter was raised quite a while ago in another sub forum, and to save anyone interested the trouble of searching, here is what I wrote then:

There is something quite simple that all importers from China can do to avoid buying from sources that take unfair advantage of employees or even worse, employ under age, indentured, or slave labor.

I teach safe sourcing and among the things I do is advise people to avoid the big popular websites. A very important factor is that two of the sites that I recommend instead of the big sites have supplier assessment processes that include not only verification of their manufacturing capability, but also verification of social compliance.

This means that they satisfy the strictest rules regarding employees' ages and working conditions, as well as social responsibilities.

During my many visits to China since I started exporting there in 1978, I have seen great improvements in working conditions. I have visited numerous factories and examined their manufacturing processes.

When I began importing in 1987, conditions in the factories operated by most of my suppliers were on a par with conditions I had observed in other countries such as USA, Australia, and the UK. A few had some way to go to catch up.

Now, when I visit those socially responsible manufacturers they have premises that look more like pharmaceutical factories than industrial premises. The industrial processes that generate dust no longer show signs of that dust on the floors. Cleanliness is almost clinical. Workers have plenty of room. Floors have line markings to separate production areas from forklift and trolley traffic areas so risk of injury is very small.

Some of these improvements are a direct result of Government regulations, but others are a result of a pragmatic decision to satisfy western buyers. In either case the outcome is good for the workers.

While it is a sad fact that China ranks as the 84th worst country for slavery I know that my importing students can be confident that they are dealing with manufacturers whose practices are as fair as those in any western countries. I can sleep with a clear conscience and I am sure so can my students who follow my methods.