Factory Fire in China Kills 28, Xi Orders Investigation
A fire tore through a shoe factory in the southeastern Chinese city of Jinjiang, Fujian Province, on Thursday, killing 28 people and prompting President Xi Jinping to demand an urgent investigation and accountability for those responsible. The blaze, which broke out around noon local time at the Huiteng Footwear factory in Chendai Township, is one of the deadliest industrial accidents in China in recent years.
According to AP News, 237 factory workers and two visitors were inside the five-story concrete building when the fire started. Authorities evacuated 213 people, though two were pronounced dead after being taken to hospital. Another 26 individuals initially reported missing were later confirmed dead. More than 500 people joined the rescue and search operation, and 183 firefighters with 35 vehicles were dispatched to the scene, with open flames extinguished after approximately four hours.
Context: Jinjiang’s Role as Global ‘Shoe Capital’
Jinjiang is a major global manufacturing hub for sports shoes, reportedly producing approximately 20% of the world’s footwear. The city’s Chendai Township, where the fire occurred, is a dense industrial area with numerous footwear factories. According to BBC News, the thousands of companies that make up Jinjiang’s shoe sector manufactured over 1.2 billion pairs of shoes in 2024, accounting for 20% of global output.
Official Response and Detentions
President Xi Jinping issued a directive on the same day, calling for an “all-out search and rescue effort” and urging authorities to “strictly hold those responsible accountable,” as reported by the Xinhua News Agency. Premier Li Qiang also issued instructions for rescue operations and post-incident handling. The Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a working group to the scene to guide the response.
Xinhua reported that the factory’s owner and others in charge have been taken into custody, and the company’s accounts have been frozen.
Fire Details and Contributing Factors
The fire started on the ground floor of the building, where a workshop and warehouse were located. Burning materials included highly flammable shoe components, which helped the fire spread rapidly. A local fire department official told state broadcaster CCTV that sole material piled up in stairwells made it significantly harder for firefighters to reach the flames and extinguish them. CCTV footage showed the building’s facade charred black with fires burning on multiple floors, shrouded in thick, black smoke.
Workplace Safety Concerns in China
Workplace safety has been a persistent challenge in China. In May 2026, an explosion at a fireworks plant in Changsha, Hunan Province, killed at least 37 people. In 2024, a fire at a refrigeration facility under construction in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, killed 39 people. According to official data cited by AP News, 18,261 people died in nearly 20,000 workplace accidents across China in 2025, though this represented a 7% decline from the previous year.
President Xi’s directive referenced “multiple major production safety accidents” occurring this year, urging all regions and departments to “deeply learn from these lessons, better coordinate development and safety, and always maintain vigilance on production safety.”
Analysis and Implications
The rapid, coordinated response from both Xi and Premier Li underscores the political sensitivity of workplace safety in China. The contradiction between improving aggregate safety statistics and the persistence of high-casualty incidents raises questions about enforcement of safety regulations at the local level, particularly in smaller manufacturing enterprises. Given Jinjiang’s critical role in the global footwear supply chain, this incident could prompt broader safety inspections across the region’s manufacturing sector and potentially cause disruptions to production.
What’s Next
Investigations into the exact cause of the fire are ongoing. The detained factory owners face potential legal consequences, and authorities are expected to conduct broader safety reviews across Jinjiang’s shoe manufacturing industry. The incident adds to mounting pressure on Chinese authorities to address persistent workplace safety failures that continue to claim lives despite official pledges to improve standards.