People shop at Sam’s Club flagship store in Waigaoqiao New Development Zone in Shanghai, China on Sept. 26, 2021.
Fan Jianlei | Visual China Group | Getty Images
China’s anti-transplant agency accused US retail giant Walmart and its Sam’s Club chain of “stupidity and myopia” on Friday after Chinese news outlets reported that Sam’s Club had removed products from Xinjiang from stores.
Last week, Sam’s Club in China came under fire after several news outlets shared videos and screenshots on the Weibo social media platform showing that products from the Xinjiang region of far-west China were removed from the store’s online app.
The social media controversy erupted after President Joe Biden signed a law on December 23 banning imports from Xinjiang due to concerns about forced labor there.
Walmart is the youngest foreign company to stumble upon Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and China’s importance as a market and supply base due to pressure from the West.
China denies allegations of forced labor or other abuse in Xinjiang.
Neither Walmart nor Sam’s Club have publicly commented on the backlash against them in China, and Walmart failed to respond to a request for comment on Friday.
The ruling Communist Party’s Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission (CCDI) accused Sam’s Club of boycotting Xinjiang products and trying to “muddle through” the controversy by keeping silent.
“Removing all products from a region for no good reason hides an ulterior motive, reveals stupidity and myopia, and is sure to have dire consequences of its own,” it says on its website.
China is a huge market for Walmart, with sales of $ 11.43 billion in the country for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Of the 423 retail units that Walmart operates in China, 36 are Sam’s Club stores, according to its website.
A search for popular Xinjiang goods such as raisins in the Sam’s Club China store app brought no relevant results, but a search for products from other locations, such as Fujian tea, also found a Reuters review on Wednesday.
Sold out?
Chinese media quoted Sam’s Club customer service representatives as saying that the products were not removed but sold out.
Calling this a “self-deceiving excuse” Friday, the CCDI said the chain should respect China’s position on Xinjiang if it wants to “hold its own in the Chinese market.”
It is not uncommon for a foreign brand to be targeted by Chinese social media users or officials, and the effects can be harmful.
Earlier this week, the Weibo hashtag “Sam’s Club Card Cancellation” went viral with over 470 million hits. On Friday, the state-run China Daily reported that domestic rivals had organized campaigns to promote goods from Xinjiang.
In July, Swedish fashion retailer H&M reported a 23% drop in local currency sales in China in the March-May quarter after being hit by a consumer boycott in March for publicly declaring that it does not source products from Xinjiang.
US chipmaker Intel faced similar calls earlier this month after telling its suppliers not to source products or labor from Xinjiang, leading it to speak out about “the problems facing our respected Chinese customers, partners and have caused the public “to apologize.
On Friday, CCDI accused H&M, Intel and Sam’s Club of collaborating with “Western anti-China forces” to destabilize Xinjiang by suppressing and boycotting local products.
“These Western corporations, which once boasted that they were free from political interference, have slapped themselves in the face with their own actions.”
