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

Foxconn Group, a global leading manufacturer of connectors and cable assemblies, and the China Business News said in the joint statement that both sides agreed Foxconn withdrew the lawsuit and they apologized to each other for the disturbances brought to both of them by the lawsuit case.

The statement said Foxconn agreed to withdraw its lawsuits on the day when 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, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan's Foxconn that manufactures iPods for U.S.-based Apple Inc, sued Weng Bao and Wang You, China Business News' two journalists, over a report published on the newspaper on June 15. The report said most of the company's workers had to work standing up 12 hours a day and 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 (3.75 million U.S. dollars) in compensation from the journalists. The court then froze the two journalists' assets, including their homes, a car and two bank accounts.

The company slashed its defamation claim against the journalists last Wednesday from 30 million yuan (3.75 million U.S. dollars) to just one yuan (13 U.S. cents), and applied for unfreezing the journalists' assets to the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court.

Source: Xinhua