An owner of a Chinese toy factory at the center of a major recall of lead-tainted toys by Mattel Inc. reportedly committed suicide just days after the U.S. toy maker identified his company as the manufacturer.

While it is unclear whether Cheung Shu-hung's suicide is linked to the recall, the incident is likely to be seen as a tragic symbol of the mounting pressure Chinese manufacturers face to improve their operations in the wake of recent high-profile product recalls. Mr. Cheung, an owner of Hong Kong-based Lee Der Industrial Co., killed himself Saturday at his factory's warehouse in China's southern Guangdong province, according to an official at the public security bureau in Guangzhou.

The Mattel recall involved more than a million toys -- including ones based on characters from Sesame Street and Nickelodeon -- that may have been tainted with lead paint. Last week, China announced that Lee Der's factory was prohibited from exporting products and was under investigation.

Chinese manufacturers often suffer serious fallout when problems emerge that endanger their relationship with big customers. Those customers pull orders, and factories are often forced to cut jobs.

This year, Huang Xing Light Manufacturing came under siege when labor activists accused it of underpaying and mistreating employees. The Shenzhen factory, which made Disney souvenirs for a Japanese company under a license agreement with Walt Disney Co., was forced to shut down after it lost most of its business.