The schoolbags to be given to all new Scots primary pupils following a controversial £6.5million pre-election promise by John Swinney will be made in China, the Mail on Sunday can reveal.

The backpacks will be manufactured in Chinese workshops then filled with school products such as pencils and rulers from Europe and Britain.

Mr Swinney was accused of betraying Scottish businesses and propping up Chinese industry by allowing the contract to go abroad.

The First Minister has faced criticism over his government’s engagement with Chinese companies - particularly a proposed £1.5billion wind turbine factory linked to Chinese manufacturer Ming Yang.

When Mr Swinney announced - just a month before May’s Holyrood election- that he would give free schoolbags to Primary One children from next August - it was branded an ‘election gimmick.’

Amanda Lindsay, Reform MSP for Central Scotland and Lothians West, said: ‘John Swinney says supporting manufacturing in Scotland is his priority.

‘Tell that to the scores of businesses in my region that have kept people in work for decades, pay the taxes funding this scheme and were passed over for a contract they are more than capable of delivering in favour of a cheaper Chinese contractor.

‘This is a blatant betrayal of Scottish firms from a government with a long and shameful record of choosing Chinese contractors over Scottish ones.

‘Scottish taxpayers’ money is being used to prop up Chinese industry while our own is left to wither and rust.’

She also demanded urgent reassurance that the Chinese-made bags for Scottish children are not made in factories that exploit child labour.

Neil Paton, 64, a director of the Montrose Bag Company, a family business which employs around 20 staff based in Angus who make high-quality, hand-made, kit-bags, holdalls and backpacks said there is no way home-grown businesses can compete.

He said: ‘It’s a real shame. It’s a huge order and would have been great for a Scottish company. But it comes down to cost. The Government won’t be prepared to pay more than £5 each for one of these backpacks. And because we pay proper wages, there’s no way we could compete or afford to produce any sort of bag for that sort of price. We’re paying our staff £13 - £15 an hour. But in China the hourly rate is more like £1 -£2 an hour.’

The SNP has repeatedly come under fire for favouring Chinese rather than Scottish businesses.

In March, Chinese bus manufacturer Yutong secured orders for 166 zero-emission electric buses, including 100 electric coaches, subsidised by millions from Scottish government grant as part of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund.

That led to Scottish bus builder Alexander Dennis Ltd cutting 115 jobs at its Falkirk and Larbert manufacturing sites. Other domestic manufacturers McGill’s and Wrightbus have launched legal action.

Meanwhile state-owned ferry agency Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited (CMAL) recently announced the contracts to build two new ferries for routes to Orkney and Shetland will be awarded to a Chinese shipyard.

In 2015, the Scottish Government also handed a lucrative contract to a Chinese firm to supply prefabricated steel sections for the landmark £790m Queensferry Crossing over the Firth of Forth.

And in March this year the UK Government had to block renewables firm Ming Yang from opening a massive wind turbine manufacturing plant at Ardersier Port near Nairn in the Highlands due to national security concerns.

The Scottish Government had been keen for the plant to be given the green light, arguing it would boost the country’s renewables.

The ‘Welcome To School’ bags were a key pledge of the SNP manifesto in the run-up to May’s election.

Swinney even presented the idea as a follow-on to the Baby Box which has been given to every baby born in Scotland since it was introduced by Nicola Sturgeon in 2017.

The new school backpacks will contain a pencil case, a water bottle and books, with the Scottish Government claiming it will cut costs for families as children enter school and ensure the best start in education.

The idea was immediately dismissed by critics as a ‘goodie-bag gimmick’.

In response to a parliamentary question lodged by Ms Lindsay, Education Secretary Mairi McAllan said: ‘The Welcome to School Bags will be manufactured in China. The stationery and items to be included in the bags will be made by manufacturers in Europe and Britain, and the bags will be assembled in Scotland.’

The Scottish Government refused to discuss why the bags weren’t being manufactured in Scotland - other than to insist ministers were seeking ‘value for money.’

A spokesperson said: ‘We have engaged with families and teachers to ensure the Welcome to School Bags will help cut costs as children start school.

'To ensure maximum value for money, the bags will be assembled in Scotland, though some items will be procured from the rest of the UK and overseas.'