But the export of laogai goods is hardly a seasonal enterprise. "According to the Chinese government itself, 200 different kinds of laogai products are exported to the international market," stated Wu. Describing the laogai system as "an integral part of the national economy," Wu has documented that "one third of China’s tea is produced in laogai camps; sixty percent of China’s rubber vulcanizing chemicals are produced in a single laogai camp in Shenyang; the first and second chain hoists to receive direct export authority are laogai camps in Zhijiang Province; one of the largest and earliest exporters of hand tools is a camp in Shanghai; an unknown but significant pipe works in the country is a laogai camp...." Another illustration of the economic role played by the laogai system is found in the recent discovery that "auto components from the Beijing laogai were being used at the Beijing Jeep joint venture involving Chrysler."
From 1998
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a400387.htm
A prisoner's food rations are determined by how much he or she works.
Juvenile prisoners are forced to labor