On April 15, “BCI Official Website Removes Statement on Boycotting Xinjiang Cotton” became a hot search topic.
BCI quietly withdrew the smear statement
According to China International Television (CGTN), in 2020 In October, BCI (Better Cotton Initiative, Swiss Better Cotton Development Association) announced that it would indefinitely cancel the guarantee certification of all Xinjiang cotton companies, putting Xinjiang cotton products on the “blacklist” of international trade. After the Chinese people denounced and boycotted BCI and H&M and other member brands this year, BCI secretly removed the statement that caused an uproar.
The reporter clicked on the link of the above statement and found that it could no longer be opened.
Regarding the specific time when this statement was deleted, the reporter noticed that the famous textile and clothing professional media “Ecotextile News” (Ecotextile News) reported on March 29 I noticed this news today. Reports indicate that China’s resistance to accusations of forced labor in China’s cotton industry continues to bear fruit, with the Better Cotton Institute (BCI) apparently removing a key statement (a statement accusing China of forced labor) from its website.
In the face of facts and truth, BCI quietly withdrew the smear statement, but Chinese netizens did not buy it: “Just pretend it never happened after it was removed? Apologize? No?” “It’s too late, the Internet has memory.”
The Chinese government has repeatedly emphasized that there is no so-called “forced labor” in Xinjiang’s cotton production. The accusations of “forced labor” in Xinjiang are completely malicious lies concocted by certain anti-China forces with the purpose of discrediting China’s image, undermining Xinjiang’s security and stability, and hindering China’s development.
In the face of boycotts, H&M has previously issued two statements, but they were both coy, secretive, and played word games. They neither responded directly to the doubts nor reflected on and apologized. , but instead increasingly aroused the anger of the Chinese people.
According to the “Nikkei Asian Review” report, on April 14, Muji’s parent company Ryohin Project Co., Ltd. spoke again. At the press conference that day, Ryohin Project President and Executive Director Matsuzaki Akatsuki mentioned a statement stating that the company had visited Xinjiang for investigation last year and had not found any major violations of laws, regulations or codes of conduct. Matsuzaki Akatsuki also said that he is seeking more growth in the Chinese market. Reports suggest that Ryohin plans to avoid being involved in accusations of using “forced labor” products.
A statement based on lies
According to information, BCI is a non-governmental organization established in Switzerland in 2009. Its original intention is to hope that farmers can learn to use water efficiently, protect the environment, reduce the use of chemical substances, and promote “decent work”.
BCI has nearly 2,000 global members, many of which are world-class well-known brands. Whether you can obtain BCI certification will affect the sales of clothing companies. However, this organization issued false statements against Xinjiang cotton in 2020 based on rumors and lies.
The statement declared that “persistent allegations of forced labor and other human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as well as the increasing risk of forced labor at the farm level, have made the operating environment unsustainable.” , therefore, BCI decided to “immediately cease all field activities in the region, including capacity building, data monitoring and reporting.”
Since then, Chinese netizens have discovered that H&M, Nike and other BCI member companies have posted information on boycotting Xinjiang cotton on their official websites. Their reasons for boycotting Xinjiang cotton are also the same as those of BCI. This statement was based on the so-called lie that “forced labor” existed in Xinjiang.
While boycotting Xinjiang cotton, they also want to make money from the Chinese people. Naturally, the Chinese people will not agree. Products such as H&M and Nike have been denounced and boycotted by Chinese netizens. Since then, the stock prices of Nike and other brands have plummeted. In just one day on March 25, the market value of Nike and Adidas evaporated by 73.3 billion yuan.
“Two faces” internally and externally
What is intriguing is , BCI Shanghai Representative Office issued two statements on March 1 and March 26, the tone of which was completely opposite to BCI’s English statement.
In both statements, the BCI Shanghai Representative Office emphasized that the BCI China project team strictly complied with BCI’s review principles and began conducting inspections in Xinjiang in 2012. The second-party credibility audits and third-party verifications carried out by project sites over the years have never found a single incident of forced labor.
The BCI headquarters smeared the existence of so-called “forced labor” in Xinjiang, while the BCI Shanghai representative office denied that forced labor was found, which is contradictory. This makes many Chinese consumers feel that BCI is There are two sets of rhetoric inside and outside, “two faces” internally and externally.
In this incident, BCI was also “skinned” by the media. BCI official website, also equipped with drones, large smart seeders, high-horsepower supporting plows, smart harvesters…
“But my income has increased. With 100 acres of cotton land For example, if manual picking is used, the labor cost will be more than 80,000 yuan. Now the cotton picker harvests cotton on time. The cost of one acre of land is 140 yuan, and 100 acres of land only costs 14,000 yuan, which takes a total of 3 hours. It can complete all picking work, saving 60,000 yuan in cost compared with manual labor.” Shi Ailing told reporters.
Ma Xueming said that the benefits of mechanization are obvious. The liberation of cotton farmers has also improved the productivity of practitioners. “In the past, seed cotton was still processed manually, but now it is all machines, which can process 400 tons of seed cotton per day.” , based on the current purchase volume, our company can complete cotton processing within two months.”
In Ma Xueming’s view, the promotion of mechanization will create its own cotton brand for Xinjiang and achieve The entire industrial chain of agricultural production, processing and sales provides strong support. “Wherever there is forced labor, it’s too late for everyone to be happy. The annual income of workers in the cotton industry in Xinjiang is generally more than 80,000 yuan, which is higher than the income of industrial workers in ordinary mainland cities.”
Build a high-quality national cotton brand
Cotton Division of Chinatex Group Co., Ltd. Zhu Xihua, deputy general manager of the Business R&D Department, said: “The cotton industry is not only the market and industry, but also the feelings of family and country. In the future, it is more important to cultivate the love for Xinjiang cotton in China’s industrial chain. If we ourselves do not love Xinjiang cotton , who would love Xinjiang cotton?” He believes that creating a Xinjiang cotton brand that consumers are willing to pay for is a joint effort of the cotton industry chain.
As early as 2016, the Cotton Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences took the lead and united 208 enterprises and institutions throughout my country’s cotton industry chain to establish the National Cotton Industry Chain Integrated Cooperation Center. Cotton Alliance.
It is reported that, in just over 4 years since its establishment, the China Cotton Alliance has been engaged in scientific and technological collaborative innovation and achievement promotion, high-quality cotton production base and supply chain construction, and full-process product quality control standards and traceability. A lot of work has been done in the establishment of the system, the cultivation and promotion of the national cotton “CCIA” brand, and the construction of a deep integration mechanism for the cotton “three industries” and achieved fruitful results.
The person in charge of the China Cotton Alliance said that in the future, the alliance will take building the China Cotton “CCIA” brand as a breakthrough, run through the entire cotton industry chain, and establish traceability from CCIA seeds to CCIA clothing. system to promote my country’s transformation from a major cotton planting and textile country to a strong cotton planting and textile country.
Hou Shunli, chairman of China Supply and Marketing Group, believes that it is necessary to proceed from the actual situation of the industry, promote the high-quality development of the cotton industry with a systematic concept, and use quality improvement and connotation expansion as breakthroughs. We must focus on four points: optimize the cotton supply system and produce more high-quality cotton that meets the needs of domestic textile enterprises; strengthen research on fashion trends and the development and application of new materials and new technologies, and expand the application of textile products in medical and health, national defense, and aviation industries. Applications in aerospace and other fields continue to expand new consumption space; strengthen brand building, lead consumption upgrades and personalized consumption trends, enhance brand confidence, and promote the research and application of brand value evaluation systems; further enrich consumption scenarios and fully release consumption potential. </p
