text: A man who was locked up and tortured in a Chinese cotton mill for 18 years has finally been rescued. Xie Shisheng, who was just 16 years old when was imprisoned by the mill owner, was found in a small dark room by authorities earlier this week. Now 34, a very gaunt Xie, who did not know what year it was when he was rescued because he was so isolated from the outside world, said he was hit with a hammer, never fed properly and beaten daily. Rescued: Xie Shisheng, who was just 16 years old when was imprisoned by the mill owner, was found by police in small dark room by police . Government authorities in the city of Qingyuan in the north west Guangdong province were tipped off about an illegal cotton mill. When they arrived at the mill in Qing Cheng District on Wednesday, they found large quantities of fake cotton goods and another more unexpected discovery. Inside a locked room officials found Xie  making cotton products. Speaking with a stammer, he said that in 1997, aged 16, he voluntarily went to Qingyuan with the mill owner, but was locked away in cramped living quarters and treated like a slave. Each day he was given a huge workload and was beaten. 'They would often force feed me horrible things and when I would struggle they would hit me in the head with a hammer,' Xie said. 'The female owner would often urinate on me.' Tortured: Now 34, a very gaunt Xie said he was hit with a hammer, never fed properly and beaten daily . When government officials arrived in the Qing Cheng District on Wednesday, they found large quantities of fake cotton goods . Xie, originally from Jiangxi in the south east of the country, said that every few years the owners would change the place of work but that he was always imprisoned in a dark room without any natural light. In fact neighbours said they always had an inkling someone was being held illegally in the building. Neighbour Mr Xie said he could hear cries of pain every night which he initially thought were from a child being punished. Over time he knew there was someone held inside the building, but because the doors were always locked he couldn’t be sure. 'When the police arrived we helped the guy to leave the building,' Mr Xie said. 'He was shaking all over saying that if he left the building the owner would beat him to death.' When police arrived at the mill, the couple fled the scene.
target: Xie Shisheng was just 16 when he was imprisoned in a Chinese cotton mill .
  He's been rescued after 18 years and says he was beaten daily and tortured .
  Xie's captors fled the scene when police arrived at the mill on Wednesday .