MUJI Photo: VCG

The Chinese branch of Japanese garment retailer MUJI clarifies on Thursday that the company is using Xinjiang cotton after H&M’s boycott of Xinjiang cotton has aroused public outrage.

The company purchases high-quality cotton from all over the world including China, India and Turkey. At present, a large number of Xinjiang cotton products are still on sale on the official website of MUJI, said the announcement sent to the Global Times. 

Chinese netizens have called for the ouster of H&M from the Chinese market after they found the company had previously said it had prohibited sourcing products from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, citing so called forced labor concerns.

More international companies have been exposed to have posted similar announcement.

Kyodo News reported in February that 12 major Japanese companies have established a policy of ceasing business deals with Chinese companies found to benefit from the forced labor in China's Xinjiang region.

The 12 companies include MUJI, and Fast Retailing Co, operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing brand.

Fast Retailing Co said in a statement on August 17, 2020 that its brand Uniqlo did not produce any products in Xinjiang, nor did it subcontract the products to local fabric factories or textile factories.
 
The Global Times found that Xinjiang cotton products that were previously on sale have been hard to find on Uniqlo's official website.

As of time of press, Uniqlo has not yet responded to the interview from Global Times.