Nintendo has launched an investigation into Foxconn after the manufacturer admitted that underage workers were employed at its factories.

"We take our responsibilities as a global company very seriously and are committed to an ethical policy on sourcing, manufacture and labor," said Nintendo in a statement.

"In order to ensure the continued fulfillment of our social responsibility throughout our supply chain, we established the Nintendo CSR Procurement Guidelines in July 2008.

"We require that all production partners, including Foxconn, comply with these Guidelines, which are based on relevant laws, international standards and guidelines.

“If we were to find that any of our production partners did not meet our guidelines, we would require them to modify their practices according to Nintendo's policy.”

Foxconn – the world’s largest electronics manufacturer – yesterday confirmed that it hired interns as young as 14 in one of its Chinese factories.

The minimum age for such work in China is 16.

"Our investigation has shown that the interns in question, who ranged in age from 14 to 16, had worked in that campus for approximately three weeks," said Foxconn.

"This is not only a violation of China's labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions."

Foxconn said the interns were hired to make up for a shortfall of workers in the area.

According to Reuters, 56 underage interns would be returned to their schools.

Along with making products for Nintendo, Foxconn is Apple's largest manufacturer, and also is a client of Dell, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard, among others.

Ongoing worker protests over working conditions, alongside a number of suicides at its plants have kept it in the news this year.