Uniqlo faces calls for boycott in China after CEO’s Xinjiang cotton comment

Uniqlo is facing calls for a consumer boycott in China after the company's boss said the Japanese clothing retailer does not source cotton from Xinjiang amid allegations of forced labour in the region.

Fast Retailing's chief executive Tadashi Yanai, who had been silent for years over the procurement of cotton from the northwestern Chinese region, revealed this week to BBC that Uniqlo was "not using" cotton from Xinjiang.

"By mentioning which cotton we’re using ... actually, it gets too political if I say anymore so let's stop here," he said without adding further details.

Companies that buy clothing, cotton, tomatoes and other goods from Xinjiang have come under pressure from Western consumers over the alleged genocide of the minority Uyghurs and Hui Muslims under the Xi Jinping administration over the past decade. Beijing has routinely denied allegations of “crimes against humanity”, calling them the “lie of the century”.

Two hashtags on Mr Yanai's comment went viral on Friday on Chinese social media platform Weibo, where several users slammed the company and vowed to never purchase its products.

"With this kind of attitude from Uniqlo, and their founder being so arrogant, they're probably betting that mainland consumers will forget about it in a few days and continue to buy. So, can we stand firm this time?" one user wrote.

"It seems that I will have to stop buying Uniqlo in the future," wrote another user on Weibo.

On X, an account named Shanghai Panda with over 110,000 followers, wrote: "UNIQLO rejected Xinjiang cotton. Chinese must reject UNIQLO."

China is one of the biggest markets for Uniqlo, where the brand aims to expand its business. Greater China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, accounts for more than 20 per cent of the company's revenue.

Mr Yanai told the broadcaster that there were only 900 to 1000 stores for China's mammoth population. "I think we can increase that to 3,000."

Several global brands, such as H&M, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger and Adidas have faced backlash in China for removing products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves expressing concern for the alleged use of forced labour. The brands were pushed by US-led sanctions imposing tougher regulations on the import of goods from Xinjiang in 2022.

H&M saw its stores removed from major e-commerce platforms and its store locations moved from map apps in China as it bore the brunt of consumer anger at companies refusing to source cotton from Xinjiang.

The Xinjiang region produces one of the best cotton in the world and a US federal report published in 2022 estimated that cotton from Xinjiang accounted for roughly 87 per cent of China’s production and 23 per cent of the global supply in 2020 and 2021.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said: “We hope that relevant companies can eliminate political pressure and negative interference, and make independent business decisions that align with their own interests.”

China in 2021 accused the West of "fabricating lies like 'forced labour' to create 'forced industrial decoupling' and 'forced unemployment' in Xinjiang to suppress Chinese companies and industries".