The Origin of the X inji ang C otton Problem and the Co unter me asure of International Br ands
The anno unc ement by Swed ish fast - f ashion brand H & M and American sports wear gi ant Nike that they will boy cott the use of c otton produced in X inji ang has caused a huge ri pp le in China . The issue has evol ved beyond just supply chain changes to an international issue with political elements .
In a statement , H & M said it would stop using local c otton due to " con c ern s about forced labor in X inji ang . " In response , net iz ens point ed out that Nike had shown a similar st ance in the past . Such a st ance by both companies has been strong ly condem ned in China as " s land er without any basis in fact . "
There has been a strong back lash in China .
When the problem sur fa ced , hashtag s such as # H M Ref use # and # Nike Boy cott # became tr ending on Chinese social media platform s , reach ing hundreds of millions of views in a matter of hours . Many net iz ens have posted a series of posts strong ly criti ci zing the two companies as " ac tions that under mine China ' s sov ere ig nt y and dign ity " and calling for a no - buy campaign .
On the e - commerce platform , major sites such as J D . com and Ta oba o have successi vely stopped selling H & M products . H & M store information has also been de leted from the map app Ba idu Map and Ga ode Map , which has also beg un to affect physical st ores . For an international brand that values the Chinese market , such events are likely to have a significant impact on management .
Mov es by emin ent persons to termin ate contracts
In the wake of the up ro ar , popular Chinese ac tors and id ols have announced one after another that they have termin ated their contracts with H & M and Nike . Parti cular ly high light ed was the anno unc ement of the canc ella tion of the contract of the popular actor , who was the character of H & M ' s advertis ement for the Chinese market . The statement said in a strong tone that " the national interest is the highest and we opp ose any act that insul ts China . "
Reg ard ing Nike , several top Chinese ath letes who had signed with the company also announced " im medi ate termin ation of contracts . " The Chinese Basket ball Association (C BA) has also suggest ed a rec onsider ation of its partners hip with Nike , and the spill over effect is spre ading to the sports world .
Back ground and future implic ations to be analys ed by experts
International relations experts point out that the latest develop ments go beyond just a corpor ate supply chain issue , and that the dee pen ing conflict structure between the West and China is behind it . On the human rights issue surround ing X inji ang , Western countries have been strong ly criti ci zing the Chinese government , and we can see the structure of international companies in the middle of it .
Market analy sts said , " China is the fourth largest market in the world for H & M and one of the most antici pat ed growth markets for Nike . " If the boy cott dist urban ce continues , the impact on the performance of both companies will be im me as ur able . " On the other hand , it has also been point ed out that Chinese domestic brand s may use this opportunity to expand their market share , which may be a tur ning point in the changing power diagram s between international and domestic brand s .
Consumer tr ends and business respons es
The buying beha vio ur of actual consumers is also beginning to change . H & M st ores in Beijing and Shanghai ' s busy stre ets have experienced a shar p dec Whatsapp in customer numbers , and some st ores have been forced to close tempor arily . Me anw hile , the stock prices of companies dep lo ying compet ing brand s in China are showing an up ward trend , and the changes in the market are beginning to show up in the numbers .
Both companies are now on a le ap of faith to re bu ild their image in China . H & M China issued a statement saying it " re aff ir ms its commitment to the Chinese market , " while Nike has also shown mov es to modi fy its con venti onal st ance by saying it " cont inu es to contribute to China ' s development . " However , the reaction of Chinese consumers and media remains luke war m , and the situation continues to be un likely to conver ge easily .