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

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

Renewable energy

Reuters

Published: 2:30pm, 1 Jul, 2021

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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.

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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.

Xinjiang, home to China’s predominantly Muslim Uygur population, is responsible for as much as 45 per cent of the global production of polysilicon, a key ingredient in the manufacturing of solar panels.

China denies all accusations of abuse and has repeatedly denied claims that it runs a vast network of forced labour camps in Xinjiang, saying it has set up “vocational training and education centres” to raise employment prospects among Uygurs and other ethnic groups.