Xinjiang-Alternative Cotton Sourcing: A Brief Look at India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and China

As concerns amplify over the use of forced labor in the global supply chains for cotton, textiles, and apparel, multinational companies (MNCs) around the world are left with this primary question – is it possible to remove Xinjiang cotton from their supply chains? The short answer is that it is unlikely, at least in the short- to medium-term.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) produces about 20 percent of the world’s cotton – and the province is China’s largest textile and apparel exporter. Raw cotton from XUAR is also spun into yarns used in factories worldwide, which means many companies are dependent on source inputs from XUAR – whether they are aware of this or not. After all, it is estimated that roughly one in five cotton apparel sold worldwide contains cotton or yarn sourced from Xinjiang. Eliminating XUAR-linked imports and sourcing outright may thus lead to supply chain shocks, particularly as the world is fighting a pandemic.

Below, we provide a snapshot of the global production of cotton and then briefly profile the regional cotton production status and general industry sourcing risk assessment for Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Lastly, we illustrate the lopsided growth of cotton production and related agro-industrial output across China.

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