Companies should make business decisions based on their best interests, the Chinese foreign ministry said, responding to a question over Fast Retailing, owner of Japanese brand Uniqlo, saying it was not using cotton from Xinjiang.
At a regular press briefing on Friday, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said: "Xinjiang cotton is among one of the best in the world, and businesses shall make decisions based on their own best interest, instead of being swayed by political pressure."
Tadashi Yanai, president and CEO of Fast Retailing Co, told the BBC in an interview earlier this week that it was not using cotton from Xinjiang, but didn't elaborate on which cotton it was using.
"It gets too political if I say anymore," he said during the interview in Tokyo when talking about building a trustworthy supply chain and where the materials in its clothes came from and how they are made.
Uniqlo is a popular brand in China, where 21.8 percent of owner Fast Retailing's revenue are derived.
About 21.8 percent of Fast Retailing's revenue comes from China, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to latest financial filings as of the end of August, making it the largest market outside Japan.
In the most recent fiscal year ended August, the company reported a 9.2-percent annual increase in revenue to 677 billion yen (US$4.5 billion) in China and an operating profit up 0.5 percent year on year to 104.8 billion yen.
Takashi Okazaki, group senior executive officer and CFO, told an analysts briefing earlier this year that it plans to open 60 new stores in the next fiscal year, but the net increase will likely be lower due to strategic store closures.
The company remains extremely bullish and optimistic about its medium to long-term prospects in China, and intends to open new stores in select locations.
Some leading global brands, such as H&M, removed products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves after an NGO, Better Cotton Initiative, suspended licensing and assurance of cotton from Xinjiang in 2021 following accusations of forced labor in the region – an allegation denied by the Chinese authorities.
That led to some domestic apparel brands leaving the BCI and some Chinese stars also cutting ties with brands still working with the BCI.
