[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] It has been confirmed that Swedish fashion brand H&M, which was expelled from Alibaba's Tmall, China's largest e-commerce platform, for criticizing human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, has resumed sales after 16 months.
On the 15th (local time), major foreign media reported that Chinese netizens spotted signs of H&M re-entering Alibaba's Tmall. The media requested responses from both H&M and Alibaba regarding the reason for resuming sales, but neither side responded.
Previously, in March last year, after a statement declaring that H&M would not use cotton from Xinjiang was published on China's social media platform Weibo, the brand faced a boycott campaign from Chinese netizens.
At that time, H&M stated on its website, "We express deep concern regarding reports of forced labor and ethnic discrimination in Xinjiang," and added, "We do not cooperate with garment factories located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, nor do we source products from this region." H&M also declared that it had severed ties with Huafu Fashion, a Chinese company suspected of producing products using forced labor from the Uyghur minority.
After the statement was made public, H&M was consecutively expelled from popular Chinese online shopping malls such as Alibaba's Tmall, Pinduoduo, and Tianmao.
Chinese state media also joined the boycott campaign. CCTV warned in a commentary that "H&M is destroying the development space of Chinese companies and workers," while Xinhua News Agency criticized H&M, stating, "H&M will suffer from the boycott measures."
Famous Chinese celebrities contracted with H&M also expressed their intention to join the boycott by terminating their contracts. Actress Huang Xuan, a model for H&M, announced the end of her contract, saying, "I firmly oppose the fabrication of rumors about China and human rights."
As a result of the boycott, the number of H&M stores in China, which was about 500 at the beginning of last year, decreased to 376 as of last month. Additionally, the flagship store in Shanghai closed on the 24th of last month.
H&M became a target of Chinese netizens' boycott, suffering nearly a 30% drop in sales within China. Currently, H&M products are not available on major commerce sites such as JD.com.
Adidas, which also refused to use Xinjiang Uyghur cotton citing human rights violations, saw its sales in the Chinese market drop by 35%, resulting in a 13.6% decrease in operating profit in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
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