Lawbreakers that illegally employ children, force people to work or maliciously injure workers will be severely punished, according to a state council conference chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao here Wednesday.

    The move comes after the exposure of the brick kiln scandal in Shanxi Province. Many brick kilns owners in Shanxi Province forced workers to work 14 to 20 hours a day without payment. Owners of the primitive brick kilns made use of fierce dogs and thugs who beat children at will.

    The investigation group, composed of personnel from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the Ministry of Public Security and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, made a preliminary report on the scandal at the conference.

    So far about 160 suspects have been detained in Shanxi and Henan.

    By Sunday night, about 45,000 policemen had raided more than 8,000 kilns and small coal mines in the two provinces and freed 591 workers, including 51 children.

    The criminals are suspected not only of illegal employment practices, but also of abduction, limiting others' freedom, employing under-age workers and even murder.

    The conference said lawbreakers should be severely punished.

    The conference ordered the Shanxi government to step up investigation of the scandal and compensate the victims.

    Yu Youjun, governor of Shanxi Province, made a self-criticism at the conference on behalf of the Shanxi government.

    The conference urged local governments and central ministries to learn a lesson from the scandal.