Burberry first luxury brand to suffer Chinese backlash

BEIJING • Burberry has lost a Chinese brand ambassador and its tartan design has disappeared from a popular video game, becoming the first luxury brand assailed by the Chinese backlash to Western accusations of abuses in Xinjiang.

The British brand is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, which promotes sustainable cotton production and said in October that it was suspending its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang, citing human rights concerns.

Award-winning Chinese actress Zhou Dongyu has ended her contract as Burberry's ambassador, as the brand has not "clearly and publicly stated its stance on cotton from Xinjiang", according to her agency yesterday.

The firm's iconic plaid design was also removed from the clothing worn by characters in Tencent Holdings' wildly popular video game Honour Of Kings, said the game's official Weibo account.

Burberry China did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. Burberry cotton is sourced from the US, Australia, Turkey, India and Egypt, its website says.

The backlash - in social and traditional media - has also hit other foreign brands such as H&M, Adidas and Nike which have previously expressed critical views on labour conditions in Xinjiang, China's biggest cotton-producing region.

H&M outlets appeared not to show up on Apple Maps and Baidu Maps searches in China yesterday.

Activists and United Nations rights experts accuse China of using mass detainment, torture and forced labour on Uighurs in Xinjiang. China denies these claims and says its actions in the region are needed to counter extremism.

The China National Textile and Apparel Council yesterday urged international brands to cease their "wrong behaviour", including the exclusion of cotton from Xinjiang in their supply chain.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG