H&M Removed from Major Chinese Platforms

H&M (Stockholm) has been blocked from all major Chinese e-commerce platforms over its stance to remove Xinjiang cotton out of its supply chain, reports WWD.

Searching for the brand on any platforms shows no results. It’s not known if this is a temporary or permanent ban of the retailer. The brand’s physical stores do not appear to have impacted.

H&M had originally revealed its decision last year to disavow Xinjiang cotton. H&M’s decision to stop using cotton from China’s Xinjiang region was rooted over concerns over allegations of mass forced labor camps in the region.

This controversy seems to have been prompted by a Weibo post from the Communist Youth League, part of China’s ruling party. The post included H&M’s response to the decision taken by the Better Cotton Initiative in March to no longer license its cotton from Xinjiang, in both English and Chinese.

H&M China’s brand ambassadors, Huang Xuan and Song Qian, revealed online that they were no longer working with the brand, stating they were “firmly opposed to any attempt to discredit the country,” although a source told WWD that Huang’s ambassadorship in fact had ended some time ago.