As many as two hundred laid-off workers on Friday massed outside a Shanghai factory of a Singaporean electronics firm Hi-P International to protest the management's plan relocation and for mass layoffs.

Wearing blue-jackets, the workers were holding banners demanding management explanations and chanting slogans against the relocation plan.

Hi-P International, an electronics contract manufacturer that produces products for companies like, Apple, HP and Motorola, has plans to shift its factory from Jinqiao to Nanhui, as its lease is going to expire in April 2012.

The relocation [lan will throw hundreds of workers out of their jobs, though both Jinqiao and Nanhui are in Pudong district.

US-based China Labor Watch criticized Hi-P International, saying it was relocating its factory without paying legally required compensation to the affected workers.

According to the China Labor Watch, the factory has already thrown around 1,000 workers out of jobs ahead of the move. However, Hi-P International refuted the New York-based watchdog's claim on Friday evening.

Chinese manufacturers are under intense pressure to cut costs amid declining demand for their products in Europe and the U. S.