US ban on Xinjiang solar products over forced labour claims is baseless, China solar association says

Name: UK parliament declares Uygurs suffering ‘genocide’ in China’s Xinjiang
Uploaded: 2021-07-01T06:30:11.000Z
Duration: 2 min 46 s
Description: UK parliament declares Uygurs suffering ‘genocide’ in China’s Xinjiang

China Photovoltaic Industry Association says US assertions about forced labour in Xinjiang solar supply chain have no factual basis

US last week banned imports of a key solar panel material from a Chinese firm and restricted exports to several more companies

Reading Time:1 minute

Why you can trust SCMP

China Photovoltaic Industry Association says US assertions about forced labour in Xinjiang solar supply chain have no factual basis. Photo: AP

Reuters

Published: 2:30pm, 1 Jul 2021Updated: 2:30pm, 1 Jul 2021

Claims that Chinese solar companies are benefiting from forced labour in Xinjiang are unfounded and unfairly stigmatise firms with operations there, the country’s solar association said.

The United States last week banned imports from Chinese solar company Hoshine Silicon Industry and separately restricted exports to Hoshine, three other Chinese companies and the paramilitary Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, saying they were involved with the forced labour of Uygurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.

The White House said forced labour was “an integral part of [China’s] systematic abuses against the Uygur population and other ethnic and religious minority groups” in Xinjiang.

The China Photovoltaic Industry Association said in a statement that it had recently inspected solar industry production facilities in Xinjiang and the US assertions had no factual basis.

02:46

UK parliament declares Uygurs suffering ‘genocide’ in China’s Xinjiang

It also said the industry had created a large number of jobs, contributing to the region’s economic and social development and added that the rights of employees from all ethnic groups were fully respected.