Fujian Shoe Factory Fire Kills 28, Investigation Launched

A catastrophic fire at a shoe factory in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, has killed 28 workers, prompting the provincial government to establish an investigation team and take legal action against the company’s management. The blaze broke out around midday on July 9 at the Fujian Huiteng Shoe Industry Co., Ltd. facility in Chendai Town, one of China’s most concentrated footwear manufacturing hubs.

The Fire and Rescue Response

The fire started at approximately 12:04 PM local time on the first-floor cutting workshop of the five-story factory building, according to the Jinjiang Fire Rescue Bureau. The Quanzhou Fire Rescue Command Center dispatched 183 firefighters and 35 fire trucks to the scene, with over 500 rescue personnel mobilized in total. According to CCTV News, visible flames were extinguished by around 4:00 PM, though search and rescue operations continued into the evening.

Firefighters on the scene reported that the factory’s stairwells were piled with large amounts of clutter, severely hampering rescue efforts. The China News Service quoted a firefighter who said the blocked passageways “severely affected the speed of firefighting and created obstacles for rescue operations.”

Investigation and Legal Action

On July 10, the Fujian Provincial Government held a press conference announcing the establishment of an accident investigation team. Officials stated they would determine the cause as quickly as possible and strictly pursue accountability. Legal control measures have been taken against the enterprise’s legal representative and responsible personnel.

President Xi Jinping issued instructions to investigate the cause of the accident and strictly pursue accountability, according to Lianhe Zaobao. Premier Li Qiang also called for a thorough investigation and measures to prevent similar tragedies.

Root Causes and Contributing Factors

Analysis by NetEase identified multiple factors that contributed to the high death toll. The fire is believed to have originated from aging equipment failure on the first floor. Air compressors, a core piece of shoemaking equipment, have a manufacturer-recommended service life of only eight years, but many machines in the factory had been in service for 10 to 20 years or more.

The workshop floor was constantly piled with highly flammable materials including leather, shoe adhesive containing benzene and toluene solvents, and chemical fiber fabrics. Once ignited, these materials released large quantities of toxic black smoke and enabled rapid fire spread.

Each floor’s stairwells and emergency exits were chronically blocked with semi-finished products and raw materials. When the first floor caught fire, toxic smoke rose vertically through the stairwells, completely cutting off all ground-level escape routes. Workers were forced to retreat to the rooftop, where some attempted to escape using makeshift ladders to adjacent buildings.

Broader Context: The Chendai Footwear Cluster

Chendai Town in Jinjiang is one of China’s most concentrated footwear manufacturing hubs, hosting thousands of small and medium-sized shoe factories. The area is characterized by a dense urban village layout where factories operate out of self-built residential-commercial mixed-use buildings with narrow, winding roads. Guancha reported that local observers noted fire safety regulations are widely ignored, and the push for regulated industrial parks has been slow in Jinjiang.

The Huiteng company, established in 2015 with registered capital of 10 million RMB, is a family-run micro-enterprise typical of the region. It operated as an OEM processor of sports shoes in a low-margin, high-volume business model that prioritized cost-cutting over safety investments.

Compensation and Outlook

According to compensation analysis in the research, each victim’s family could receive between 1.9 million and 2.4 million RMB in combined payouts from work-related injury benefits, funeral subsidies, production safety accident compensation, and workplace safety insurance. The total compensation for all 28 victims is estimated to exceed 50 million RMB (approximately $6.9 million USD).

The tragedy is expected to trigger a full industry safety inspection shutdown across the Chendai footwear cluster, criminal prosecution of company owners and safety managers, and potential disciplinary action against local regulatory officials. Long-term implications include an accelerated push to move factories out of urban villages into properly regulated industrial zones, and stricter enforcement of fire safety regulations across Fujian’s manufacturing sector.