LONGi
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 1 November 2026 · 15 sources
Chinese maker of solar panels, wafers and cells, based in Xi'an.
LONGi's supply chain was linked to forced labour in 2025, which it has only partly acted on, and it has no full independent audit.
Know something we've missed? Send evidence. Represent LONGi? Send a right of reply.
Compare LONGi with another brand
Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 0 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 3 red flags: no evidence of a living wage, unaudited production in high-risk countries and forced or child labour. Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record: the most serious problem on its record (forced labour link, last recorded in 2025) was a link through a supplier, which the company has only partly acted on.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 0 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsMost of its products are made in China and Malaysia, where unions are heavily restricted, and it has no full supply chain audit.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Not met: No child or forced labour findings or links
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Traces the silicon in its panels to the smelter or quartz mine, outside Xinjiang (for batteries and inverters: traces its battery metals to the mine)
Red flags 3
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Made mostly in countries with poor worker rights, without a full independent audit of its supply chain
- Red flag: Forced, slave or child labour found in or linked to its supply chain
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where it's made
LONGi says which countries it makes its products in, but doesn't name the factories.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Malaysia | No guarantee of rights | Below a living wage | Moderate |
| Vietnam | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: about a third of the world's polysilicon and silicon metal is made in Xinjiang, where state-run labour transfers amount to forced labour, and home batteries rely on cobalt, lithium and other metals linked to child and forced labour.
- Traces the silicon in some of its panels, or only back to the polysilicon plant
- Modern slavery statement
- It traces some of its silicon, or traces it only to the polysilicon plant, but doesn't show that the panels it sells here use silicon traced back to the smelter outside Xinjiang.
Research notes LONGi makes its own wafers, cells and modules, with factories in China, Malaysia and Vietnam, and LONGi Solar Australia buys its panels from the parent; it does not say which factories supply Australia. It holds Solar Stewardship Initiative traceability at Gold, back to the quartz mine, at two Chinese module factories from October 2026, but only for a portion of the silicon, and says nothing about whether panels sold here come from that traced chain. It names no polysilicon or silicon-metal suppliers on its own site; Sheffield Hallam found it bought from Xinjiang plants under contracts running to 2025. It reports supplier audits with no forced labour found but publishes no supplier list.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Stewardship Initiative certified sites | Listed | Solar Stewardship Initiative traceability at Gold (traced to the quartz mine) for two module factories in China, Chuzhou and Jiaxing, from 21 October 2026, covering part of the silicon at those sites; ESG certificates at Gold (Chuzhou) and Silver (Jiaxing). View |
| Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre) | Listed | Assessed in the 2025 Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark (35 wind and solar companies), which found no company publicly discloses its full solar supply chain. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Problem found | Sheffield Hallam University's 2023 assessment, posted by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, rated LONGi's exposure to Uyghur forced labour in its supply chain 'very high'. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | LONGi Solar Australia Pty Ltd lodges modern slavery statements every year from 2021 to 2025. View |
| US forced-labour import bans (UFLPA Entity List, CBP Withhold Release Orders) | Not listed | LONGi and its subsidiaries are not on the UFLPA Entity List (29 October 2026 edition). Its former Xinjiang polysilicon suppliers Xinjiang Daqo and TBEA (parent of Xinjiang Xinte) are listed. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | The US Department of Labor's 2024 list names Chinese polysilicon and metallurgical-grade silicon as made with forced labour, and Chinese ingots, wafers, solar cells and modules as made with those inputs. View |
Confirmed issues 1
Only confirmed problems are listed, and old ones drop off after 10 to 15 years. A problem the company has fully put right no longer counts against it, and nor does one it finds and is fixing itself. How problems are counted
| Last recorded | What happened | Made amends? |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Link through a supplierSheffield Hallam University's 2023 Over-Exposed report found LONGi had a polysilicon supply contract with Xinjiang Xinte, a Xinjiang plant of TBEA (on the US forced labour Entity List since 2026), running to December 2025, and bought from Xinjiang Daqo (on the Entity List) until the end of 2022. Source · archived copy | PartlyLONGi hasn't said it ended the Xinte contract; it has SSI Gold traceability for part of the silicon at two module sites from October 2026, and says its silicon suppliers passed audits. |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- US Customs detained 40 MW of LONGi modules between 28 October and 3 November 2021 under the ban on silicon products from Hoshine, a Xinjiang silicon-metal maker; LONGi said US shipments continued as normal. In February 2022 at least 100 MW of detained LONGi and Trina modules were released (Bloomberg, 2021; pv magazine, 2023). Source
- Industry sources told Reuters that most of the 1,053 solar shipments US Customs held under its Uyghur forced labour law between June and October 2022 were made by LONGi, Trina Solar and JinkoSolar; none had been released or rejected by then (Reuters, 2022). Source
- Sheffield Hallam University rated LONGi's exposure to Uyghur forced labour 'very high' for all modules it makes in China, Malaysia and Vietnam (2023); US Customs also detained LONGi modules made with Tongwei polysilicon in July 2023, according to Bernreuter Research. Source
Sources and actions
Sources 15
Show all 15 sources
- Certified sites (Solar Stewardship Initiative) · search the archive · LONGi Chuzhou and Jiaxing module sites: Supply Chain Traceability Gold from 21 Oct 2026; ESG Gold (Chuzhou) and Silver (Jiaxing)
- Report from Sheffield Hallam University reveals significant risks of forced labor in solar supply chains (BHRRC, 2023) · search the archive · LONGi: allegation of very high exposure to forced labour supply chain risks
- Renewable Energy and Human Rights Benchmark 2025 (BHRRC) · search the archive · LONGi assessed; no company publicly discloses its full solar supply chain
- DHS announces addition of 37 PRC-based companies to UFLPA Entity List (2025) · search the archive · UFLPA Entity List additions of solar wafer makers for sourcing Xinjiang polysilicon; LONGi not among them
- List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor (US Department of Labor, 2024) · search the archive · Chinese polysilicon and metallurgical-grade silicon listed for forced labour; solar cells, modules, ingots and wafers for forced-labour inputs
- Australian Modern Slavery Register search: LONGi · search the archive · LONGi Solar Australia Pty Ltd statements for 2021 to 2025
- LONGi factories get Gold traceability certification from SSI (TaiyangNews, 30 Oct 2026) · search the archive · Gold certification recognises tracing a portion of the polysilicon from quartz mines to modules at Jiaxing and Chuzhou; segregated material flows
- Over-Exposed: Uyghur Region Exposure Assessment for Solar Industry Sourcing (Sheffield Hallam University, 2023) · archived copy · LONGi rated VERY HIGH for modules made in China, Malaysia and Vietnam; supply contract with Xinjiang Xinte through December 2025; Daqo contract through end of 2022; OCI Malaysia the only 2022 supplier without possible Xinjiang silicon-metal exposure
- Top solar firm LONGi says US Customs detained products (Bloomberg, 2021) · search the archive · 40.31 MW detained 28 Oct-3 Nov 2021, linked to the Hoshine silicon ban; LONGi said shipments continued
- US blocks more than 1,000 solar shipments over Chinese slave labor concerns (Reuters via ThePrint, 2022) · search the archive · 1,053 shipments held June-October 2022, mostly LONGi, Trina and JinkoSolar per industry sources; none released or rejected yet
- New report: these solar modules are tainted by forced labor (Bernreuter Research, 2023) · search the archive · US Customs detained LONGi modules made with Tongwei polysilicon in mid-July 2023
Published by LONGi or its owner
- Solar traceability lets a buyer confirm where a module's materials were sourced (LONGi, 2026) · search the archive · Traceability system; key polysilicon suppliers hold TUV traceability certification; no polysilicon or silicon-metal origins named; Australia not mentioned
- ESG overview (LONGi Europe) · search the archive · 71 on-site audits of 48 key suppliers in 2024; silicon suppliers audited with no forced labour found; no supplier list
- Modern Slavery Statement LONGi Solar Australia Pty Ltd CY2023 · search the archive · Panels bought from the parent; group manufacturing in China, Vietnam and Malaysia; over 75,000 group staff; 28 supplier audits; traceability to silicon mines being set up; no statement that Australian products are traced
- LONGi green manufacturing across its global factories (LONGi, 2020) · search the archive · Factories in Malaysia and Yunnan, China
Company details
- Headquarters
- China
- Employees
- About 75,000
- Last researched
- 1 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is LONGi ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/longi, last researched 1 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
Other solar panels brands
Nothing we've rated in solar panels is better than Lacks transparency yet.
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent LONGi.