BEIJING, Aug. 13 -- When Mattel recalled nearly a million toys manufactured by Zhang Shuhong's company, he fought hard to find a way to resume sales to the United States. They were the lifeblood of his firm, Lee Der Industrial, and its lucrative share of the export boom driving China's economic growth.
But as Zhang's factories in the city of Foshan lay idle, workers started drifting off, fearing the plants would not start up again. Then Chinese authorities announced Thursday that he was prohibited from exporting toys until further notice because of the defects denounced by Mattel.
Zhang was found dead in a company warehouse two days later, colleagues said Monday, apparently having hanged himself. His death dramatized the high stakes in an international scare over unsafe Chinese products and an increasingly vigorous government crackdown designed to restore confidence in the export industry.
"I think the company is about to go bankrupt," said an executive of a Lee Der subsidiary who would not give his full name because of the sensitive nature of the subject matter. "Otherwise, he wouldn't have committed suicide."
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