[ad_1]
The company boss behind global fashion chain Uniqlo has told the BBC that the Japanese firm does not use cotton from China’s Xinjiang region in its products.
This is the first time Fast Retailing chief executive Tadashi Yanai has directly addressed the controversial issue.
China is an important market for Uniqlo not only for consumers but also as a major manufacturing hub.
Xinjiang cotton was once known as the finest fabric in the world.
But this has fallen out of favor after the revelations It is produced by people of the Muslim Uyghur minority using forced labor..
In 2022, Strict US regulations on imports of goods from Xinjiang came into action.
Many global brands pulled products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves, prompting a backlash in China. Brands like H&M, Nike, Burberry, Esprit and Adidas were boycotted.
Sweden’s H&M saw its clothes pulled from China’s major e-commerce stores.
At the time, Mr Yanai – who is Japan’s richest man – refused to confirm or deny whether Xinjiang Cotton in Uniqlo clothing. was used, Saying that he “wants to remain neutral between the US and China”..
The decision not to side with them helped Uniqlo remain popular in China’s large retail market.
But speaking to the BBC in Tokyo about the firm’s moves to be more transparent about where the materials in its clothes come from and how they are made, he said: “We are not using . [cotton from Xinjiang]”
“Mentioning what cotton we’re using…” he continued before stopping and ending his answer “Actually, if I say any more it gets too political, so let’s stop here. They go.”
Isaac Stonefish, chief executive and founder of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm with a China focus, highlights the pressure on firms in both China and the US.
“No big company can be politically neutral anymore,” he says.
“Both Beijing and Washington want companies to choose sides, and Tokyo will continue to lean closer to the United States on this issue.”
Although Uniqlo is expanding aggressively in Europe and the US, in Mr. Yanai’s own words, “we are not a globally recognized brand” and Asia is still its biggest market.
The company has more stores in China than in its home country of Japan, and Mr. Yanai says he has no plans to change that strategy, however. Challenges in the world’s second largest economy.
“There are 1.4 billion people in China and we only have 900 to 1,000 stores,” he says. “I think we can increase that to 3,000.”
Meanwhile, China is Uniqlo’s single largest manufacturing hub. The company also manufactures clothes in countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India.
In 2009, When 80% of its products were made in China.Mr. Yanai Told the BBC that China is becoming too expensive. And the firm was moving production “to low-wage Cambodia to keep prices down.”
Now, he says, it was difficult to replicate China’s success as the world’s factory in other countries because years of experience proved difficult to transfer.
Retailers such as Uniqlo also face fierce competition from ultra-fast fashion as brands such as China’s Shen and Timo gain popularity among price-conscious consumers.
But Mr Yanai says “I don’t think fast fashion has a future”.
“They’re recklessly producing clothes that you only wear for one season. It’s a waste of the planet’s resources.”
He adds that Uniqlo’s strategy is to focus on essential items that can be worn for years.
In the 40 years he was in charge of the firm, Mr Yanai grew the company he inherited from his father to global China with annual sales of around 100 million yen ($656,700; £522,400) to 3 trillion yen. of this year’s income.
The 75-year-old says his aim is to overtake Inditex, which owns global chain Zara, the world’s biggest retailer. Fashion Retailer before retiring.
But to achieve this, Uniqlo needs to expand not only in China but also in the West, where shoppers are concerned about human rights issues such as forced labor. Becoming aware of problems quickly.
Mr Yanai’s ambitions may face further obstacles as Donald Trump returns to the White House on a pledge To impose high tariffs on Chinese-made goods.
[ad_2]
Source link