Germany's Volkswagen Group and its Chinese partner have sold a factory in the Xinjiang region of China, where accusations of forced labor dogged the facility for many years.

Volkswagen has sold its plant in Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China beset by accusations of human rights abuses, citing “economic reasons.” “There is no business case for (the plant),” said a spokesperson,

Earlier this year, the U.S. blocked imports of several Porsche, Bentley, and Audi vehicles amid concerns that they contained a Chinese-made part that violated U.S. forced labor laws.

SAIC Volkswagen is based in Anting, Shanghai's Jiading district, and has production bases in Nanjing, Yizheng, Urumqi, Ningbo, Changsha, and other Chinese cities. In 2015, it surpassed FAW-Volkswagen Automotive, the JV of FAW Group and Volkswagen, to become the top-selling domestic passenger car company.

Over the next three years alone, the Group and its brands will bring 40 new models to the Chinese market, half of which will be electrified.

German carmaker Volkswagen is withdrawing from its controversial involvement in a factory in China's Xinjiang province, which has attracted criticism over alleged human-rights abuses of the Uighur minority.

VW and its local partner sold a production site in the Xinjiang region that had previously brought increased scrutiny on the automaker over human-rights concerns.