EU companies in China pay the price for Brussels stance on Xinjiang
- Chamber of commerce chief Joerg Wuttke says companies will find it difficult to prove their supply chains are free of forced labour links
- Beijing forum hears deepening ideological differences make dialogue between the two sides even more important
Doing business in China is becoming “more complex and expensive” for European firms which are finding themselves increasingly caught in the geopolitical struggle between the world’s second-largest economy and the West.
Wuttke, who heads the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, was speaking on Monday, ahead of legislation coming into force in the United States to ban imports of products linked to controversial labour programmes in Xinjiang, where China is accused of detaining a million Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in re-education camps.
Among them is Germany, which last week adopted legislation – to take effect from January – forcing companies to identify human rights violations and potential abuses in their supply chains.
During a panel discussion at a forum organised by Beijing-based think tank the Centre for China and Globalisation, Wuttke said it would be difficult for foreign companies operating in the western region to prove their supply chains were free of forced labour.
“There are no external auditors willing to work in Xinjiang, so it’s going to be a big challenge,” he said.