BEIJING: China has once again come under the global scanner for using coercive labour practices—this time in the supply of critical minerals from Xinjiang region to multinational brands. The revelations are a major source of embarrassment for the Xi government, which has long tried to project Xinjiang as a symbol of stability and economic success. While China has previously faced criticism over forced labour in cotton production, the latest findings reveal how China is using forced labour in many industries—putting global supply chains at serious risk.
A report by the Netherlands-based Global Rights Compliance has revealed how China has openly used forced labour beyond cotton. It highlighted that several major global brands could be linked to critical minerals sourced from Xinjiang, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, and magnesium. These materials are essential to industries such as aerospace, automotive, defence, and electronics.
The report identifies 77 Chinese suppliers in these industries who are participating in the government-run “labour transfer programs.” These programs are part of a wider policy of repression, under which Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are forced into factory labour under state surveillance—an extension of China’s long-standing campaign of assimilation and mass detention. The rights body has urged companies worldwide to conduct urgent and transparent audits of their supply chains or risk becoming complicit in modern slavery.
It is ironical that the Chinese government has been continuously promoting a false narrative about Xinjiang. The China Cotton Association recently reported a 3.3% rise in cotton planting for 2025, claiming the region is home to more than 3,700 textile enterprises. However, rights advocates have dismissed these figures as propaganda, pointing out that forced labour remains at the core of Xinjiang’s industrial output.
The Pulitzer Centre reports that Uyghur workers continue to handpick cotton under degrading conditions. Shockingly, videos have surfaced showing children as young as seven working in the cotton fields—violations of international child labour laws. China, in turn, dismisses all allegations as “vicious lies,” claiming all ethnic groups “enjoy happy lives.”
Unfortunately, the labour abuse doesn’t stop at textiles. Workers from Xinjiang are being forcibly transferred to factories across China, including in Hubei, under state programmes condemned as coercive. Companies like CP Group (Charoen Pokphand) and Dachan Foods reportedly use these transferred workers in meat production for global fast-food brands like KFC and McDonald’s China. Videos uploaded by workers reveal isolation, homesickness, and dehumanisation, with some describing their situation as modern-day slavery.
Even global food supply chains are being quietly infiltrated. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, China has begun transforming Xinjiang cotton into animal feed. Cottonseed, a protein-rich by-product, is now used to feed billions of chickens, pigs, and cattle—making forced labour harder to detect in food production. In some instances, this cottonseed feed is developed in partnership with paramilitary arms of the Xinjiang government, and the animals are processed in facilities staffed by forced ethnic minority workers.
Major companies have denied sourcing tainted goods, few have been transparent about tracing animal feed or verifying human rights standards in their extended supply chains.
In response to global outrage, the United States banned imports of Xinjiang-made goods under the Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) in 2021. Since then, over $3.6 billion worth of goods have been detained. This powerful legislation doesn’t just target finished goods from Xinjiang but any product that includes raw materials or components sourced from the region.
Despite this, Chinese investment in Xinjiang’s textile sector has skyrocketed. From 2014 to 2022, the region saw 285.9 billion yuan in fixed asset investment, with a 20% annual growth rate. Over 1,350 enterprises from other provinces have entered Xinjiang’s industrial ecosystem—further embedding forced labour practices into China’s economic framework.
The abuse stretches beyond cotton and food. A March 2024 Human Rights Watch report exposed how forced labour has tainted the aluminium supply chains of top global automakers. Companies including General Motors, Volkswagen, Tesla, Toyota, and BYD were found to have failed to adequately investigate or eliminate forced-labour-linked aluminium from their manufacturing processes. Human Rights Watch warned that this failure risks making these companies complicit in crimes against marginalised ethnic groups.
Meanwhile, the 2022 United Nations report concluded that China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, estimating over 1 million Uyghurs arbitrarily detained under the guise of counterterrorism. China has rejected these findings, claiming it is maintaining stability.
Experts argue that despite mounting evidence of forced labour in Xinjiang—from cotton to minerals and car manufacturing—China has largely shielded itself from meaningful accountability.
It is time for democracies and international institutions to move beyond symbolic gestures. Only tough, enforceable action such as bans, sanctions, and full transparency in global corporate supply chains—can break this cycle of exploitation.
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