Beijing 2022: IOC assures branded products from suppliers are not made using forced labor

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) conducted third-party due diligence on suppliers that produced its own branded products for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 (04-20/02/2022, China). This work, which started in September 2021 and is aligned with the IOC's Supplier Code, did not find any forced, bonded, indentured or child labour," announced the body on 19/01/2022.

The United States' Congressional-Executive Commission on China had sent an official letter to IOC president Thomas Bach in early January 2022, expressing concern that suppliers Anta Sports and Hengyuanxiang Group (HYX Group) were using cotton from the Xinjiang region. "Cotton produced in the XUAR (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) is synonymous with forced labour and the systematic repression that takes place there," stated the letter said, echoing accusations of abuse against the Turkic ethnic Uyghurs.

"The IOC carried out due diligence on suppliers that produce its own branded products for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. This includes Hengyuanxiang Group (HYX Group) and Anta Sports. As part of this…