A flesh-and-blood figure of Barbie's beau Ken stood in a giant pink box on a Lausanne street on Wednesday to highlight dire working conditions in Chinese toy factories.

Passers by were invited to pose for photographs next to the model dressed in a dark jacket worn over a white shirt with a stiff collar.

Charity Solidar Switzerland set up the stunt to raise awareness about the conditions in factories in China.

Solidar has also launched an online petition called "Fair Toys Now" in which American toy manufacturer Mattel, the maker of Barbie, is singled out and urged to "take responsibility for the working conditions in the supply chain".

Solidar calls for an end to "80-hour work weeks" and the provision of "wages that are sufficient for a decent living".

"This petition, which has already garnered 3,000 signatures, will be delivered on December 15 to Mattel's European headquarters in Amsterdam," Solidar spokesman Lionel Frei said.

Last week, Solidar had pulled the same stunt with a flesh-and-blood Barbie in Zurich.

Solidar claims that the doubling of salaries in China would result in a price increase of just two cents on a 30-euro toy sold in Europe.

"More than half of the toys that arrive under a Christmas tree in Switzerland were made by factory employees working up to 11-hour days," Frei said.

Solidar, which referred to an investigation by China Labor Watch, said factory workers can also be exposed to toxic solvents.

The Fair Toys Now campaign will continue in Paris on December 7 with an event organised by ActionAid France.

In an email sent to AFP, Mattel said it was "committed to ensuring that everyone making our toys and our products is treated fairly and with respect and is able to work in a safe and healthy environment."

The company added: "Our practices in terms of work, health, safety and environment, as well as our monitoring procedures, reflect this commitment."

China power plant collapse kills at least 22: Xinhua
Beijing (AFP) Nov 24, 2016 - At least 22 people were killed when part of a power station under construction in China collapsed Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, the latest industrial accident in a country with a dismal safety record.

A cooling tower platform plunged to the ground in the early hours, trapping an unknown number of people beneath it, Xinhua said. Rescue efforts were under way.

Pictures of the scene in Fengcheng, in the central province of Jiangxi, showed a grey mass of concrete slabs and steel girders splayed in a heap on the ground, with a row of red fire engines standing at the ready.

Industrial accidents are common in China, where safety standards are often laxly enforced.

In August a pipeline explosion at a coal-fired power plant in the neighbouring province of Hubei killed 21.

Earlier this summer more than 130 people were taken to hospital after chemicals leaked from a plant in eastern China.

In April a chemical fire burned for 16 hours in the coastal province of Jiangsu after an explosion at a facility storing chemicals and fuel, requiring 400 firefighters to quell the flames.