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Chinese sportswear stocks jump after anti-Xinjiang cotton statement

Shares of Chinese sportswear makers extended gains on Friday in hopes of increased sales as leading foreign brands, including H&M and Adidas, faced backlash in China after western countries imposed sanction on the country amid a Xinjiang cotton row.

Li-Ning (2331.HK) ended 2.9% higher at HK$51.45 after jumping nearly 11% on Thursday. Anta Sports (2020.HK) rose 5.61%, extending gains of 8.4% yesterday.

Chinese consumers boycotted some foreign brands after the US along with the European Union, Canada and the UK announced a joint statement earlier this week for sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights violations in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China produces about a fifth of the world’s cotton and supplies the material to many international brands. The anti-Xinjiang statement affected a number of fashion brands in China over Xinjiang cotton.

Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M products were removed from major Chinese e-commerce platforms including Alibaba and JD.com, following calls by state media for a boycott over the retailer's decision to stop buying cotton from Xinjiang, according to media reports.

Several other international brands, including Nike and Adidas, were also targeted by social media in Mainland China this week.

The People's Daily, a Chinese government-backed newspaper, shared an image with the hashtag “I support Xinjiang cotton” in Chinese. This post triggers a boycott on Adidas, News Balance, H&M, Nike and Burberry, brands, which expressed concern about the alleged use of Uighur forced labour in the production of Xinjiang cotton.

Adidas, New Balance, H&M and Burberry and their stock prices were lower. Adidas was at $155.71 (HK$1209.7) and H&M $4.56 (HK$35.43), down 5.25% and 3.38% respectively overnight.

Chinese celebrities cut ties with brands rejecting Xinjiang cotton.

“Me and my company artist - Eason Chan Yick-shun resolutely boycott any action vilifying China, Therefore, we decided to terminate all collaboration with Adidas immediately,” said Eason Chan agency manager on Thursday.

《The Young Reporter》

The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.

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