SHANGHAI, CHINA--A New York University student recently interned undercover in a factory here that assembles Apple iPhones. He worked six days per week installing screws into iPhones for about $2.50 per hour. More

BEIJING—China’s first domestic manufacturer of jet engines, Aero Engine Corp. of China, has officially opened for business. The multibillion dollar conglomerate will employ some 100,000 people and incorporate subsidiaries of various state-owned firms, including the Aviation Industrial Corp. of China.

DONGGUAN, China—Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology Co., a manufacturer of connectors and other electronics components, is building a new factory here that will use only robots for production. The factory will initially be equipped with 1,000 robots, with the aim of reducing the current workforce of 1,800 to about 200.

BEIJING — In one factory in southern China, sleeping on the job is not frowned upon. In fact, it's being strongly encouraged by management. Workers at the computer hardware factory in the Dongguan have been encouraged to use two ten minute breaks to rest their eyes and sleep.

GUANGZHOU, China—Robots are playing a greater role in Chinese industry as manufacturers there feel the pressure of a severe worker shortage and soaring labor costs.

WASHINGTON—Social activism organization Green America is alleging that Samsung is employing child labor at its cell phone assembly plant in China.

SHANGHAI—Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China has opened a cavernous assembly plant near the airport here that will soon produce a rival to the Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320.

BEIJING—Zhejiang province is to invest $82 billion over the next five years to encourage manufacturers to adopt more robots to overcome the short supply and high cost of labor.

BEIJING—Young people in China don’t want to work in factories, they want to work in services or at Internet companies, says Terry Gou, CEO of contract manufacturer Foxconn.

BEIJING—Chinese manufacturers are increasingly investing in robotics to overcome the challenges of rising labor costs and fierce competition from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia.