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.

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

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.