Statement on China brings further criticism of H&M
Fashion retail group H&M issued a statement on its situation in China on March 31. The company and other global retail groups have faced a backlash in China following the resurfacing of statements published in 2020 on sourcing cotton from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
Reuters has reported that 20 H&M stores in China are currently closed, but said the group had declined to say if this was because of the backlash.
In the new statement, H&M said it was working with colleagues “to do everything we can to manage the current challenges and find a way forward”. It added that its long-term commitment to the Chinese market, where it has operated for more than 30 years, “remains strong”.
It insisted it was dedicated to “regaining the trust and confidence of our customers, colleagues, and business partners in China”. But it did not say how it would achieve this. And it did not say if it would lift its threat to terminate business relationships with any supplier verified to be involved in forced labour.
State-controlled media in China have reacted angrily to the March 31 statement because H&M offered no apology to China or to consumers there. Reuters quoted China Central Television as having said on microblog site Weibo that the statement from the Sweden-based fashion group was an exercise in “second-rate public relations, full of empty words lacking sincerity”.
H&M told sportstextiles it had nothing further to add to the statement.
