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 and SAIC Motor agreed to sell the factory that is located in Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region to the Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center but did not disclose the sale's terms in an announcement made Wednesday.

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.

The automaker has long been criticized by human rights activists for doing business in the territory, where China has repressed Muslim ethnic groups.