Foxconn, a Taiwan-based company, withdrew its defamation lawsuit against two journalists and their newspaper on Sunday, said a joint statement released by both parties.

Foxconn Group, a global leading manufacturer of connectors and cable assemblies, and the China Business News stated that both sides agreed to Foxconn withdrawing the lawsuit and apologized to each other for troubles brought to either side by the case.

The statement said Foxconn agreed to withdraw its lawsuits on the day the statement was released.

The two sides also agreed to collaborate with each other to protect workers' rights and contribute to building a harmonious society, according to the statement.

The Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. in Shenzhen, a subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn, that manufactures iPods for US-based Apple Inc, sued Weng Bao and Wang You, China Business News' two journalists, over a report published in the newspaper on June 15. The report said most of the company's workers had to work standing up 12 hours a day and that some fainted with fatigue.

The company filed a lawsuit against the two journalists in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court on July 3, asking for 30 million yuan (US$3.75 million) in compensation from the journalists. The court then froze the two journalists' assets, including their homes, a car and two bank accounts.

Last Wednesday, the company slashed its defamation claim against the journalists from 30 million yuan (US$3.75 million) to just one yuan (13 US cents), and applied for the unfreezing of the journalists' assets to the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court.

(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2006)