Six-year-old finds note in X-mas card written by alleged Chinese prisoner; Beijing denies

Tesco halted the production of cards from the factory after the incident came to light.

Tesco said it has initiated an investigation into the matter and even withdrew the cards from sale.

"We abhor the use of prison labour and would never allow it in our supply chain. We were shocked by these allegations and immediately suspended the factory where these cards are produced and launched an investigation. We have also withdrawn these cards from sale whilst we investigate," the company said in a statement.

"We have a comprehensive auditing system in place and this supplier was independently audited as recently as last month and no evidence was found to suggest they had broken our rule banning the use of prison labour. If a supplier breaches these rules, we will immediately and permanently de-list them," the company said.

The issue came to light after Florence Widdicombe, who was writing cards to her school friends, found a card with a message in it.

BBC reported that in the card, the message read: "We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will. Please help us and notify human rights organisation." 

The message in the card asked whoever found the message to contact Peter Humphrey, a British journalist who was himself imprisoned there four years ago, reported BBC.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang denied the allegation and said it was a 'drama' created by Peter.

"On your first question, I have seen some British media reports. It is just a drama choreographed by Mr. Peter Humphrey," he said.

"Mr. Humphrey isn't one for a life far from the madding crowd. Every now and then he would pop out into the spotlight with a headline or two, as if worried that people might forget him. But his latest plot sounds all too familiar. My advice to him: if you want to grab more eyeballs, at least come up with some new tricks," he said.

"I can tell you that after verifying with relevant departments, we know for sure that there is no forced labor of foreign prisoners in Qingpu prison in Shanghai," he said.

The card supplier, Zhejiang Yunguang Printing, also denied the claims.

"We only became aware of this when some foreign media contacted us. We have never done such a thing," Zhejiang Yunguang Printing told the Global Times, "Why did they include our company's name? Do they have any evidence that we have been working with any prison?"