H&M reiterated its commitment to regain the confidence of Chinese shoppers' and partners' trust following a recent backlash in the country against comments it made in 2020 on China's Xinjiang region.

On March 24, Chinese officials criticized H&M, the Swedish fashion brand, for a statement issued last October that raised concerns about forced labor and religious discrimination against ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang region.

H&M had stated that it was deeply concerned by reports from civil society organizations and media that include accusations of forced labor” and that it did not source products from Xinjiang, where more than one million Uyghur Muslims, members of other ethnic groups, and dissidents are believed to be incarcerated.

Two of China’s largest e-Commerce sites, Taobao and JD.com, have since removed the brand. The company’s celebrity endorsements in China have been cancelled as well.

On March 25, Chinese official media went on to accuse other international brands like Burberry, Adidas, Nike, which had all issued similar statements recently. Facebook joined in, blocking about 100 fraudulent accounts associated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).