H&M returns to Alibaba’s Tmall platform, 16 months after Xinjiang controversy

H&M has reopened its official store on Alibaba’s Tmall ecommerce platform, 16 months after the Chinese company removed it, following the fashion brand’s criticism of human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The re-opening was first observed by Chinese netizens and confirmed by a Reuters search of the platform on Tuesday.

It has not been confirmed what prompted the re-opening and Alibaba and H&M did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Tmall and several other Chinese platforms scrapped any reference to H&M when the company said it would no longer be sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, due to concerns about human rights abuses in the region.

It is estimated that over a million people, predominantly Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, have been unlawfully detained in camps across Xinjiang. China denies all accusations of abuse.

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H&M joined several other Western brands, including Nike, Adidas, Burberry and Converse, swept up in the Xinjiang cotton controversy in March last year.

However, the fashion retailer was disproportionately impacted, as one of the first to be targeted by netizens on Chinese social media.

Despite other brands seeing celebrity ambassadors cut ties with Chinese firms, pledging to not use Xinjiang cotton, H&M was the only brand to see its online identity in China impacted to such an extent.

Since March 2021, the retailer has only been permitted to sell online in China through its own site and via a mini-programme on WeChat. However, Chinese consumers have not been able to search for the brand through major third-party platforms such as Tmall or JD.com.

In addition, H&M closed its flagship bricks-and-mortar store in Shanghai, after consumer backlash to the Xinjiang cotton issue, as well as covid restrictions in the city.

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