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Representatives of the Chinese manufacturer of Olympic mascot dolls on Tuesday said reports claiming its products were made in sweatshops had been based on untrue information and its factory is open to international organizations and the media for inspections. Gu Feng, chairman of the board of Yancheng Rainbow Arts and Crafts Co, located in East China's Jiangsu province, made the comment at a news conference in response to previous reports by British newspaper the Sun. On Jan 19 and 23, the Sun published stories calling the factory a "sweatshop". The reports said that workers in the factory need to work 358 hours a month to make only 93 pounds, roughly 930 yuan ($147). "The Chinese workers quoted by the Sun as the factory's employees did not even exist," Gu said. He said that Zhu Shengrong, who was interviewed by the US-based Voice of America (VOA) earlier, fabricated the story to tarnish the factory's reputation out of retribution for his dismissal. In its report, VOA quoted Zhu as saying that he was forced to work about 14 hours a daywithout overtime pay. "Zhu was fired by our factory in the first half of 2008 due to repeated inappropriate contact with some female colleagues," Gu said. Zhu had demanded compensation for an industrial injury but was rejected by the local courts. Gu said the factory had passed inspections from the International Council of Toy Industries and the Societe Generale de Surveillance SA, a Switzerland-based multinational company that provides inspection services. | 
