We are working together with our colleagues in China to do everything we can to manage the current challenges and find a way forward.
China is a very important market to us and our long-term commitment to the country remains strong. Having been present there for more than thirty years, we have witnessed remarkable progress within the Chinese textile industry. Being at the forefront of innovation and technology, China will clearly continue to play an important role in further developing the entire industry. We are proud our suppliers are being part of that development and we want to continue contributing to driving progress together with our partners and stakeholders in the country. We want to be a responsible buyer, in China and elsewhere, and are now building forward-looking strategies and actively working on next steps with regards to material sourcing. Together with all relevant stakeholders, we want to collaborate to be part of the solution and jointly build a more sustainable fashion industry.
As a global company, we comply with local laws and regulatory frameworks in all the markets where we operate. Our company values are built on trust, respect, integrity, and dialogue. We wish to focus on our core business and on what we do best – bringing fashion and design to our customers all around the world.
We are dedicated to regaining the trust and confidence of our customers, colleagues, and business partners in China. By working together with stakeholders and partners, we believe we can take steps in our joint efforts to develop the fashion industry, as well as serve our customers and act in a respectful way.
The Stockholm-based low-cost fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz AB has reported an expected loss in the first quarter. The company, the world’s second biggest fashion retailer that is known for the brand H&M, said that it swung to a net loss of 1.07 billion Swedish kronor ($122 million) in the December to February period compared with a profit of 1.93 billion kronor a year earlier.
Sales decreased to 40.1 billion kronor from 54.9 billion as the company said that the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the company badly, leading to the temporary closure of up to 1,800 stores, or some 36% of all of its stores worldwide, during the quarter.
Similar to some other Western brands, Hennes & Mauritz has recently faced a backlash in China over the company’s continued ethical decision not to use cotton sourced from the Xinjiang region and allegedly produced by forced labour including minority groups such as the Uyghurs.
As a result of online backlash from Chinese social media, it has seen its H&M brand erased from major e-commerce sites in China and its store locations have vanished from some digital maps in moves considered retaliatory.
The Chinese government has denied allegations of forced labour in Xinjiang, most recently last week.
H&M is the world’s second-largest fashion retailer by sales, after Inditex, the owner of Zara, and China is its fourth-biggest market.
