[6] Since its inception, Early Light Industrial has developed relationships with major toy sellers such as Mattel, Lionel, and Hasbro,[7] and has grown to an organisation that employs over 70,000 employees during peak production periods in factories that total more than 20 million square feet.

Combined, these facilities cover an area of approximately 25 million square feet, and have the capacity to accommodate over 450 assembly lines and 70,000 skilled workers at their peak.

[2] In 2007, toy cars supplied to Mattel by Early Light were subject to a HK$1 million product recall when they were found to contain lead.

An Early Light spokesman said at the time: "We discovered [the subcontractor] didn't turn up to fetch the paint in April and May, so we did a lab test on the toy cars.

Mattel absolved Early Light from blame caused by the substitution of dangerous paint by the subcontractor, Hong Li Da.

[13] At the behest of the Guangdong authorities, it hired 800 workers from Kashgar,[14] as part of an ethnic program which relocated 200,000 young Uyghurs since the start of 2008.

[16] Li Qiang, the executive director of China Labor Watch said the low pay, long hours, and poor working conditions, combined with the inability of Uyghur workers to communicate with their Han colleagues, exacerbated deeply held mistrust between the groups, and sparked the deadly brawl in June 2009.