Chinese apps join celebs in backlash against Western fashion brands over Xinjiang

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a store of the Swedish fashion retailer H&M at a shopping complex in Beijing, China March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's top ride-hailing app dropped Swedish fashion retailer H&M from its listings as Chinese celebrities stopped endorsing foreign labels in a growing uproar over Western accusations of forced labour in Xinjiang.

H&M faced a public backlash in China when social media users in the country circulated a statement the company made last year announcing it would no longer source cotton from Xinjiang after reports of the use of forced labour by Uighur Muslims.