Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Foxconn Technology Group -- the world 's largest electronics manufacturer and supplier to companies like Apple , Samsung and Microsoft -- admitted that interns as young as 14 worked at one of its Chinese plants . `` An internal investigation carried out by our company has confirmed media reports in China that some participants in the short-term student internship program that is administered at our campus in Yantai , Shandong Province are under the legal working age of 16 years , '' the company said in a statement . `` This is not only a violation of China 's labor law , it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions . '' The underage interns had worked at the plant for about three weeks , the company said . No evidence was found at other plants in China , the company added . Opinion : U.S. misses full truth on China factory workers . Foxconn is one of the world 's largest suppliers of components for the electronics industry . Much of its manufacturing division is based in mainland China , where it assembles a range of products including Apple 's iPhone and iPad , Amazon 's Kindle and Microsoft 's Xbox . Interns represent about 2.7 % of Foxconn 's 1.2 million employees in China . The report was the latest in a string of incidents for Foxconn . Earlier this month , workers rights groups and Chinese state media reported work stoppage at a Zhengzhou plant regarding `` overly strict demands '' for production of Apple 's iPhone . The company disputed reports of a `` strike , '' but admitted employee `` disputes . '' Last month , a factory in Taiyuan was shut down for a day after a large-scale brawl sent 40 people to the hospital . Working conditions at Foxconn factories have been under the spotlight since a 2010 spate of worker suicides at its plants . Foxconn said it had increased workers pay , introduced counselors , started a 24-hour phone counseling service and opened a stress room where workers can take out frustration on mannequins with bats . The Fair Labor Association -- an industry-funded labor watchdog whose membership includes Apple , a large customer of Foxconn -- released a report in August that Foxconn has moved to bring working hours including overtime down to below 60 hours per week `` with the goal of reaching full compliance with the Chinese legal limit of 40 hours per week , plus an average of 9 hours of overtime per week while protecting worker compensation . '' `` Immediate health and safety measures '' had been made , such as enforcement of breaks , changing equipment design to reduce repetitive stress injuries and testing of emergency equipment like eyewashes and sprinklers , the August report said . An explosion last year at a Foxconn plant that makes Apple 's iPad2 in Chengdu killed four people and injured 18 more . Chinese officials said the blast may have been caused by combustible dust in a polishing workshop . That incident followed a report by a labor group alleging that workers at the same plant do not have adequate training in the use of chemicals and do not have regular on the job health checks . In June : Police , company investigates Foxconn death .
Samsung admitted that interns as young as one worked at 14 of its Chinese plants . Chinese law prohibits workers younger than 16 from working in the factories . The interns worked for about three weeks at Foxconn 's Foxconn manufacturing plant . Foxconn is the world 's largest electronics manufacturer with clients like Apple and Apple .