Factory Blaze in China’s ‘Shoe Capital’ Kills 28

At least 28 people have died in a fire at a shoe factory in southeastern China on Thursday, according to Chinese state media. The latest in a string of deadly workplace accidents to rock the country this year, it prompted an immediate response from China’s leader.

President Xi Jinping of China issued a statement urging “all-out efforts” to rescue trapped survivors, uncover the fire’s cause and “hold those responsible accountable,” according to China’s state broadcaster, CCTV.

Mr. Xi’s decision to quickly and personally issue the statement was significant. The Chinese government often keeps back details of accidents while it gathers information and prepares to issue a response. A statement by the leadership is often meant also as a signal to the authorities to commit resources to respond to the disaster.

The fire broke out at noon local time at the factory in Jinjiang, a city in the province of Fujian that is colloquially called China’s shoe capital. There were 239 people at the scene, and 213 of them were evacuated from the site, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Video from Chinese state news media showed flames coming from the building’s top-floor windows and huge plumes of smoke over the multi-story complex. At least a dozen people appeared to be trapped on the roof. By around 5 p.m., the fire was mostly extinguished, according to The Beijing News, a Communist Party-controlled newspaper.

China has a long history of deadly workplace accidents, though in the past decade, the government has tightened safety regulations and reduced the number of industrial disasters. In the first quarter of 2026, workplace accidents left 3,000 people dead or missing, according to government figures.

Mr. Xi acknowledged that there have been multiple major workplace accidents in China this year, and urged the country’s regions to learn from such episodes, coordinate response efforts and maintain vigilance about worker safety, according to Xinhua.

According to CCTV, the factory where the fire broke on Thursday belonged to a company called Fujian Huiteng Shoes. The person in charge of the company has been detained, and the company’s accounts have been frozen, according to Xinhua.

In May, an explosion at a coal mine in northern China killed 82 people, one of the deadliest mining disasters in years. Weeks earlier, an explosion at a fireworks factory in central China killed 26 people and left dozens injured, according to state media.

And in November, a blaze that ripped through a high-rise apartment complex in Hong Kong killed at least 161 people, making it the deadliest fire in the city since 1948.