361 Degrees doubles down on using Xinjiang’s cotton as China’s rift widens with the world

361 Degrees International Limited, one of China’s largest home-grown brands in sports shoes and apparel, has signed an agreement with the China Cotton Industry Alliance (CCIA) to obtain its fibre from Xinjiang, defying the boycott by Western consumer brands over alleged labour abuses.

The company, based in the Fujian provincial city of Jinjiang, will buy raw cotton, yarns, fabric and other material from the CCIA and use the association’s trademark in its sales and marketing campaigns, according to a press statement. The CCIA will dedicate its “best cotton fields” to supply 361 Degrees, according to the statement, without providing details about its membership or production capacity.

The cooperation comes as the Switzerland-based Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), formed in 2009 to promote ethical practices in the worldwide industry, has come under fire in recent months over its handling of the controversy surrounding alleged forced labour in Xinjiang, the biggest cotton-producing region in China. BCI suspended all licensing activities in Xinjiang since March 2020, and came under fire for its unexplained removal of a statement on its website.

Cotton from Xinjiang has recently made headlines, as a list of US and European brands including Adidas, Nike and H&M announced they would stop buying fibre from the autonomous region over alleged forced labour. In retaliation, Chinese consumers have called for the boycott of these Western brands, propping up home-grown competitors such as Li Ning, Anta Sports and 361 Degrees. Some Chinese e-commerce merchants and platforms such as Meituan, Didi and Baidu have also retaliated by erasing H&M’s online presence from their sites.