Chinese factory workers on Thursday released their US. boss whom they had held captive for a week over a compensation dispute, a company official said.

Chip Starnes, president of Specialty Medical Supplies, was allowed to leave the factory in northern Beijing and was resting in a hotel.

US businessman Chip Starnes has been released. Credit:Reuters

"As of now my boss Chip feels exhausted after two harsh days and has gone back to a hotel, okay?" Specialty Medical General Manager Xing Shuang told Reuters Television. "This is all I have to say."

The workers had demanded severance packages identical to those offered to 30 employees who were recently laid off, even though the firm planned no further layoffs, Starnes said earlier.