Foxconn Technology Group will keep on increasing worker salaries in China and cutting the hours of work, Chairman Terry Gou said on Sunday, after it came under fire for poor working conditions for employees making Apple iPhones and iPads.

As part of its efforts to relieve the pressure on its existing factories in Chinese cities such as Shenzhen and Chengdu, Gou said Foxconn would be building high-tech manufacturing facilities in Hainan, as well as expanding operations in Brazil.

"We are a saying now in the company, 'you work fewer hours, but get more pay'," Gou told Reuters at the 2012 Boao Forum for Asia in China's Hainan island province. "We won't stop here and will continue to increase salaries."

"Salaries in Brazil are even higher but we will continue with our investments there. We've just entered a deal with Hainan Airlines and they will eventually be our way of connecting our supply chain (from China to Brazil)."

The 61-year-old Taiwanese tycoon said Foxconn would lift workers' overall salaries as some employees at its sprawling factories in Shenzhen had complained that they would not make enough money if hours were reduced.

Apple and Foxconn agreed last week to improve conditions among the 1.2 million workers assembling iPhones and iPads in a landmark decision that could change the way Western companies do business in China.

According to the agreement reached with Apple, Foxconn Technology Group, whose subsidiary Hon Hai Precision Industry assembles Apple devices in China, will hire tens of thousands of new workers, eliminate illegal overtime, improve safety protocols and upgrade housing and other amenities.

The move is in response to the independent Fair Labor Association's findings of violations of labor laws by Foxconn, such as letting long work hours and unpaid overtime.

Foxconn now supplies 50 percent of the world's consumer electron