How HSBC’s digital platform is helping the apparel sector to trace the origin of cotton amid Xinjiang scrutiny

Serai, HSBC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, adds greater visibility and transparency to entire supply chain of the apparel industry, CEO Vivek Ramachandran says

Launched in 2019, Serai currently has 3,500 companies on the platform

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Serai, an HSBC unit, has launched a solution to help buyers and suppliers prove the origin of cotton and other materials amid intensified scrutiny by the US. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:05pm, 15 Feb 2021Updated: 12:20pm, 15 Feb 2021

HSBC’s digital business to business platform, Serai, has launched a solution for the apparel industry to trace the origin of cotton and other raw materials in the industry’s supply chains as cotton exports from Xinjiang come under greater scrutiny by the US government.

Using the new traceability solution, suppliers can input data on the provenance of their goods at each step along the value chain – from raw material to processed or in-process goods and final shippable product.

“The platform adds greater visibility and transparency to the entire supply chain and helps consolidate data at each stage,” said Vivek Ramachandran, CEO of Serai, a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC.

It can help buyers and suppliers to prove the origin of cotton and other materials as the US has enacted several legislations aimed at countering alleged human rights violations of Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, an autonomous region in China’s northwest.

Vivek Ramachandran, CEO of Serai. Photo: Jonathan Wong

China is the world’s second largest cotton producer, with 85 per cent of the output originating from the autonomous region alone in 2019, according to the US Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The US imported US$50 billion worth of textiles from China in 2019.