Beijing - Hundreds of children have been forced to work in factories in southern China for low wages and long hours, Chinese newspaper reports said Wednesday.

Authorities are trying to find and free them while also arresting the people involved in the labour rings that lured them to the industrial cities of Dongguan, Shenzhen and Huizhou.

More than 1,000 children ages 9 to 16 from poor families primarily from the Liangshhan region of the south-western province of Sichuan were coerced into working for wages ranging from 2.5 to 3.8 yuan (36 to 54 cents) per hour, the reports said.

An underground organization recruited the children through their impoverished families and brought the minors to the Pearl River Delta cities, forcing them to work in factories itself or through employment agencies, authorities said.

In Shipai town in Dongguan, authorities had freed more than 100 children, the China Daily said, citing a local government spokesman, while the Nanfang Dushi Bao newspaper in Guangzhou reported 167 workers had been freed. (dpa)