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The autonomous region of Xinjiang is the leading producer of cotton in China. The region accounts for about one fifth of the world’s cotton production.

Overview

In 2003 China began prioritizing extra-long staple (ELS) cotton over upland cotton, due to ELS cotton’s climactic preferences this shifted the Chinese cotton industry from the Yangtze River Region and Huang He Region to Xinjiang.

Xinjiang accounts for about one fifth of the world’s cotton production.

In 2019, Xinjiang was responsible for 84% of China’s cotton production. Most of the cotton grown in Xinjiang is high quality extra-long staple length cotton. Annual production is approximately 5 million tonnes. Due to trade tensions and allegations of forced labor pressure has been placed on cotton growers and suppliers with small firms being the hardest hit.

Forced labor

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According to Quartz, the Xinjiang region is described as a "'cotton gulag' where prison labor is present in all steps of the cotton supply chain..."

A 2020 report from US government anti-Communist think tank, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, said that hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities were being forced to cultivate cotton in Xinjiang.

In March 2020, the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) suspended licensing and assurance activities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China due to "persistent allegations" of forced labor in the region. In October 2020, BCI ceased all field-level activities in Xinjiang, citing "sustained allegations of forced labour and other human rights abuses" in the region leading to "an increasingly untenable operating environment".

In March 2021, the Chinese consumers start to boycott companies who have vowed against using cotton in Xinjiang. Chinese consumers criticized H&M, which in September 2020 announced it would stop using a Chinese manufacturer accused with using forced labor, citing the BCI's decision to stop licensing Xinjiang cotton. People's Daily named New Balance, Burberry and all BCI members in online posts, calling for Chinese consumers to boycott these brands. Chinese celebrities terminated endorsements of the companies mentioned. Amid the boycotts, Chinese sportswear company Anta Sports announced it was exiting the BCI, citing their statement on Xinjiang as "seriously concerning".

On March 26, 2021, the BCI Shanghai representative office said it found no evidence of forced labor in Xinjiang. The office stated that since 2012, the Xinjiang project site has performed second-party credibility audits and third-party verifications over the years, to reach their findings. BCI subsequently removed its October 2020 statement from its website regarding the ceasing of field-level activities in Xinjiang.

Reactions

In reaction to the proposed Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2020 to impose sanctions on "any foreign person who 'knowingly engages'" and require firms to disclose their dealings with Xinjiang, the president of the American Apparel & Footwear Association said that blanket import bans on cotton or other products from Xinjiang from such legislation would "wreak havoc" on legitimate supply chains in the apparel industry because Xinjiang cotton exports are often intermingled with cotton from other countries and there is no available origin-tracing technology for cotton fibers. On September 22, 2020, the US Chamber of Commerce issued a letter stating that the act "would prove ineffective and may hinder efforts to prevent human rights abuses." Major companies with supply chain ties to Xinjiang, including Apple Inc., Nike, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company, have lobbied Congress to weaken the legislation and amend its provisions.

Decisions by various Western companies to stop buying Xinjiang cotton have led more than 40 celebrities from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, including Eddie Peng, Eason Chan, Uyghur actress Dilraba Dilmurat, Huang Xuan, Victoria Song, and Zhou Dongyu, to sever ties with those companies.

In 2021 the US Government banned the import of any cotton produced in Xinjiang. This ban was part of a US pressure campaign aimed at ending the alleged abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

See also

• China Cotton Association

References

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• Cotton production
• Industry in China
• Xinjiang