Chinese stars present in the livestreams to promote Xinjiang cotton products. Photo: screenshot of photos on Sina Weibo

After more than 50 Chinese celebrities announced their support for Xinjiang cotton, more stars have begun joining promotional events to sell Chinese products made from Xinjiang cotton to provide more practical support to Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Chinese celebrities have also been launching a movement to cut ties with Western brands that have said they will no longer use Xinjiang cotton based on fabrications of "forced labor" in the region. The fashion brand founded by Edison Chen Koon-hei from Hong Kong announced it had ended cooperation with Nike and actor Li Yifeng announced that he was terminating his cooperation with Japanese sports brand ASICS.

These moves have earned a lot of applause from Chinese netizens. "National interests are more important than anything else. We are proud of them," wrote one netizen, expressing their support for the celebrities' patriotic stand.

A livestream to sell Xinjiang cotton products was also co-held by China's major short video platform Kuaishou and China Central Television (CCTV) on Sunday, attracting the attention of Chinese netizens.

The livestream, hosted by CCTV's Uygur presenter Nigemaiti, invited several Chinese celebrities from various places throughout China such as Southwest China's Sichuan Province and Northwest China's Shaanxi Province to promote Xinjiang cotton.

"Xinjiang cotton is one of the best in the world, but the demand for it falls short of supply all year round," said an advance notice for the livestream published on Sina Weibo.

To help netizens express their love for Xinjiang cotton, Chinese actor Yu Menglong, who was born in Xinjiang, taught netizens how to say "I love you" in the Uygur language during the livestream.

Some netizens noticed that another actor, Xing Zhaolin, was buying products from Chinese sports band Li-Ning late Sunday night. A video clip showing Xing walking out of a Li-Ning store has gone viral on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

"Supporting Chinese brands is what these celebrities should do now," another netizen commented.