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A group of Chinese textile industry and trade associations on Saturday condemned the US' so-called Uygur forced labor prevention act, saying the bill will seriously endanger the security of the global textile industry supply chain, and hurt the interests of tens of millions of industrial workers around the world.

The US government is suppressing China's cotton textile industry in the name of human rights, the China Cotton Association said in a statement on Saturday.

The Chinese textile industry firmly opposes US' hegemony move to unilaterally use domestic legislative and administrative measures to block Xinjiang products from entering international supply chains, and the so-called bill sets a dangerous precedent in international economic and trade by presumption of guilt covering all Xinjiang products, the China National Textile and Apparel Council and 12 industry associations said in a joint statement.

By exercising the presumption of guilt in regard to "forced labor" covering all Xinjiang products, the US is completely violating market principles and WTO rules, severely harming the interests of Chinese and American textile and apparel companies and consumers, and undermines the stability of the global supply chain, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) stated.

Xinjiang's cotton industry is an important part of the global textile supply chain. In 2021, Xinjiang's cotton output stood at 5.13 million tons, accounting for about 20 percent of global cotton output, according to the council. 

China has the world's largest textile and apparel industry with the most complete and independent industrial chain with international competitive advantages. China has also built the world's largest textile and apparel intermediate product market and retail market.

However, since 2020, the US government has taken different approach such as issuing Xinjiang-related supply chain reports, and issuing import bans restricting the import of cotton-related products from Xinjiang, which has seriously damaged the reputation of Xinjiang and China's cotton textile industry.

The US' relentless crackdown and smear campaign is designed to stem developing industries in Xinjiang and undermine the momentum of economic development of the region, but such political maneuver is doomed to fail, said Huo Jianguo, vice chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies.

The US imported $25.79 billion worth of textiles and apparel from China in the first ten months of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 23.9 percent. The growth rate rose sharply by 58.9 percentage points from the same period last year, accounting for 27.6 percent of the US' total textile and apparel imports during the same period, according to industry data.

The US' brutal suppression will not only harm millions of cotton farmers and textile workers in Xinjiang, but also seriously harm the interests of American textile and apparel consumers, retailers, distributors and importers, which is a real violation of human rights, the CCCT said.

Washington's escalating trade restrictions go against US domestic interests and are bound to further aggravate the US economic predicament, Huo said.