U.S. CEO and Chinese factory workers reach a resolution

2013-06-27 128

A U.S. executive has ended his 6-day hostage ordeal at a factory in Beijing after coming to an agreement on salary with the Chinese workers who had held him captive.

The general manager for Specialty Medical Supplies, said Chip Starnes, the CEO, has left the factory.

After rounds of negotiations, the head of the local labour union said the stand-off was resolved.

(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) HEAD OF RIGHTS AND INTERESTS DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR UNION IN BEIJING'S HUAIROU DISTRICT, CHU LIXIANG SAYING:

"The mass labour dispute incident for this unit has been resolved. Both sides have come to an agreement through joint efforts made by Mr. Starnes and the workers' side. The results have turned out to be satisfactory."

A written agreement from both parties was signed.

Starnes told journalists the day before his release that his company plans to keep the factory in China, and that he plans to spend the next two weeks in Beijing before returning to the U.S.