Tadashi Yanai, chief executive of Fast Retailing, the company behind the global fashion chain, has said that Uniqlo does not use cotton from China’s Xinjiang region to make its products. “We are not using (cotton from Xinjiang),” Yanai said in Tokyo. “By mentioning what cotton we are using…” he continued, but paused and concluded, “Actually, if I say any more it gets too political, so let’s stop there “.
Although Xinjiang’s cotton is considered one of the finest fabrics worldwide, it fell out of favor when it came to light that the Muslim Uyghur minority was forced into labor to produce it.
China stands out as an important market for Uniqlo both from a customer perspective and as a major manufacturing hub.
Earlier, strict US rules were imposed on the import of goods from China’s Xinjiang region.
In recent days, many global companies have removed products made from Xinjiang cotton from their shelves. This ultimately led to a strong reaction in China where big names like Nike, Adidas, H&M, Nike, Burberry and Esprit were boycotted.
H&M removed its clothes from major e-commerce stores in China.
Then addressing the issue, Yanai, who is Japan’s richest man, declined to comment or confirm whether Uniqlo was using cotton from Xinjiang. He simply said that he wanted to remain “neutral between the US and China”.
As a result, their decision helped the Japanese brand remain quite popular in China’s retail market.
While Uniqlo is expanding its business in Europe and the US, Yanai said, “We are not a well-known brand globally,” adding that Asia remains its biggest market.
As far as the company’s presence in China is concerned, it has more stores in this country than its home country Japan. And Yanai said he doesn’t plan to change that strategy despite challenges in the world’s second-largest economy.
He said that while China has 1.4 billion people, they have only 900 to 1,000 stores. “I think we can get it up to 3,000,” he said.
Apart from China, the company also manufactures clothes in India, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia.
