26th March 2021 – (Shanghai) The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is considered to be the driving force behind the recent boycott of Xinjiang cotton by many international brands. However, the BCI Shanghai representative office stated earlier this month that no forced labour incidents have been detected in Xinjiang. The BCI Shanghai Representative Office issued a statement on Friday (26th), stating that it once again solemnly stated that the project team in China strictly abides by the BCI audit policy and has never found a case of forced labour. The WeChat public account of the BCI Shanghai Representative Office published the “Important Statement on Xinjiang Issues” on 1st March, stating, “The BCI China project team strictly abides by the BCI audit policy and has been verifying Xinjiang since 2012.
It has never found an incident of forced labour in Xinjiang. As for the recent international brands’ boycott of Xinjiang cotton, BCI’s Shanghai representative office claimed that this was a corporate action and had nothing to do with BCI. Founded in 2010, BCI is an international non-profit organisation that promotes the sustainable development of the global cotton industry. It is headquartered in Switzerland and has an office in Shanghai. Its members include retailers, suppliers, and manufacturers. H&M, NIKE, Adidas and other international brands who recently boycotted Xinjiang Cotton are its members.
At the end of 2019, BCI had more than 1,840 members. In 2019, BCI Retailer and Brand Members sourced more than 1.5 million metric tons of Better Cotton, including brands such as H&M, Adidas, and Nike.