Xinjiang Subsidiary Is Listed As "34"; Entity List; Hong Kong Yida Group Sued US Government

Hong Kong enterprises fight back against the US smear of Xinjiang cotton! Esquel, a Hong Kong textile and garment manufacturer, filed a lawsuit with the District Court of the District of Columbia in the United States for the inclusion of its subsidiary Changji Yida in the "entity list" of the US Department of Commerce, and sought legal assistance for the economic and reputation losses caused to the group as a whole.

The US Department of Commerce's Bureau of industry and security (BIS) last year placed a number of enterprises on the list of entity sanctions, claiming that they were involved in "violating" the human rights of the Uygur people in Xinjiang, including the Yida group, according to Hong Kong's Xingdao daily.com. The group said that the "entity list" wrongly accused it of using forced labor in Xinjiang, which was totally inconsistent with the facts. However, a number of international independent third-party audit institutions have conducted audit on the group, and the results clearly show that there is no evidence to prove that the enterprise has forced labor or coerced employees under any circumstances. The company said it had responded positively and transparently to the charges since September last year and submitted several commercial documents to the end-user Review Committee of the U.S. Department of Commerce to confirm the allegation. However, Washington has not made any substantive response or provided relevant evidence to support the decision to include the group in the "entity list". As a result, the group has "no choice" to resort to legal means to request access to the administrative procedures and records followed by the US Department of Commerce in making this decision, and to put an end to the reputation and commercial damage caused to the enterprise caused by the accusation as soon as possible.

Yida group is a diversified cotton textile business group founded by Yang Yuanlong in 1978. The current chairman is Yang minde, the daughter of Yang Yuanlong, who is also a non official member of the Hong Kong Executive Council in 2009. The business scope of the company involves cotton planting, spinning, weaving, garment making, export and retail. It is a multinational company, and its main products are cotton shirt production and export; Customers include French crocodile, Marks & Spencer and Tommy Hilfiger, with an annual supply of over 70 million pieces. Yida also has its own fashion brands, such as "cotton clothing workshop", "Pai" and "Shiru Shi".

Changji Yida textile, a subsidiary of Yida group in Changji City, Xinjiang, was sanctioned by the US Department of Commerce in July 2020. Che Ketao, the group's chief executive, denied the accusation and said that he would like the accuser to investigate in person and return the group a clean slate. Some Hong Kong media published articles on the fate of Yang minde and Xinjiang cotton. The article said that the good quality of Xinjiang cotton, in addition to congenital factors, also need "the day after tomorrow's efforts", and "the day after tomorrow's efforts" are related to Yang minde. In the 1990s, Yang minde, who took over his father's business, went to Xinjiang to plant cotton and set up factories. She invested $50 million to open a cotton spinning factory with the best equipment. She also managed cotton planting and purchasing. In order to improve the quality of long staple cotton, Yang minde invited many professionals to guide farmers to grow cotton, and provided free training and zero mortgage loans to cotton farmers all year round. "It can be said that the encounter between Xinjiang cotton and Yang minde is a combination of two swords... Xinjiang cotton and Yida's operational strength will eventually enable China to occupy a seat in the world's textile industry".