Swedish fast-fashion giant H&M returns to Alibaba shopping platform Tmall more than a year after Xinjiang cotton backlash

A search on Tmall on Tuesday showed that H&M merchandise is again available to local consumers, with 14.33 million subscribers signed up online
But a similar keyword search for H&M on JD.com and Pinduoduo did not yield any results

Alibaba

Tracy Quin Shanghai

Published: 8:00pm, 16 Aug, 2022

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Fast-fashion giant H & M Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has reopened its official store on Alibaba Group Holding’s premium shopping platform Tmall, more than a year after the Swedish firm’s online presence was removed in mainland China amid a backlash for its refusal to use Xinjiang cotton.

A search on Tmall, which offers both Chinese and international branded products, on Tuesday showed that H&M merchandise is again available to local consumers, with 14.33 million subscribers signed up online.

But a similar keyword search for H&M on two other major Chinese e-commerce platforms, JD.com and Pinduoduo, did not yield any results.

Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post, JD.com and Pinduoduo did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

02:38

Global brands face backlash in China for rejecting Xinjiang cotton

H&M’s store reopening on Tmall marks an initial step to help restore the company’s lustre in the world’s second-largest economy, where it has seen consumer demand slump because of Covid-19 lockdowns and borne the brunt of a backlash against foreign companies that refuse to buy cotton produced in Xinjiang.

Although the Chinese government did not single out any particular company, a nationwide consumer boycott against foreign brands – including H&M, Nike, Adidas and Burberry – swept the country in March last year in response to their previous statements about refusing to use Xinjiang cotton. A number of Chinese celebrities abandoned their commercial collaboration with these firms at the time.

In August last year, H&M was slapped with a 260,000 yuan (US$38,412) fine by Shanghai’s market regulator for “misleading customers” in its advertisements, which claimed some of the company’s products were only available in China.

H&M’s experience has become an example of the risks Western brands face in navigating China’s increasingly nationalistic marketplace.

H&M closes Shanghai flagship store following lockdowns, consumer backlash

There were 90 consumer boycotts against foreign companies in China from 2008 to 2021 caused by corporate statements or actions perceived as challenging the country’s governance in Hong Kong or sovereignty over Taiwan, or unfairly criticising its human rights record in Xinjiang, according to a report published by Stockholm-based think tank Swedish National China Centre.

In 2018, for example, Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana faced a boycott by consumers on the mainland, following an alleged racist outburst by one of its founders and a controversial advertising campaign that showed a Chinese model struggling to eat pizza with chopsticks.

While H&M has hundreds of bricks-and-mortar stores in mainland China, the company has reduced its investment in the country amid weak consumer spending and a slowing economy. In June, H&M shut down its flagship store in Shanghai after a two-month, citywide lockdown was imposed on the Chinese financial hub.

While total retail sales in China rose 2.7 per cent year on year in July, that was well below an expected rise of 5.3 per cent and down from 3.1 per cent growth in June, according to the latest government data.