EU Criticizes China's Xinjiang Forced Labor While Significantly Increasing Imports

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] According to a report by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 26th, exports from China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the European Union (EU) more than doubled compared to the previous year. This reflects the EU's contradictory behavior of criticizing the Chinese government over forced labor in Xinjiang while still pursuing its own interests.

SCMP analyzed Chinese customs data and revealed that exports of products from Xinjiang to the EU in the first half of this year increased by 131% compared to the same period last year.

SCMP explained that although part of this increase is due to a base effect from the impact of COVID-19 last year, exports in the first half of this year rose by 103.5% compared to the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

While the United States has imposed successive import restrictions on products produced in Xinjiang, the EU is still in the review stage regarding import bans.

Experts point out that political interest and controversy over forced labor within the EU appear to have had little impact on Xinjiang product exports to the EU.

Germany, the EU's largest economy, saw imports of Xinjiang products increase by 143% in the first half of the year. Italy's imports rose by 32%, and the Netherlands by 187%. Although Belgium's imports are small in scale, they increased more than 15 times compared to the previous year.

The EU's imports of Xinjiang products in the first half amounted to $370.32 million (approximately 430.2 billion KRW), more than three times the import value of the United States during the same period.

Exports of Xinjiang products to the United States in the first half decreased by 20.8% compared to the previous year. However, they increased by 30% compared to the first half of 2019.

The United Kingdom, which has left the EU, saw its imports of Xinjiang products increase by 192.2% compared to the same period last year.

Max Jenglein, an analyst at Germany's Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), said, "Despite discussions surrounding Xinjiang, there has been almost no impact on trade so far," adding, "No one needs to pay much attention yet to the supply chain law that the EU plans to introduce."

On the 14th (local time), the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act," which completely blocks imports of products produced in the Xinjiang region. According to the bill, all imports of goods not approved by U.S. authorities are blocked, and importers must prove that their products are not the result of forced labor. Until now, the U.S. has selectively applied trade regulations to supply chains of Xinjiang products such as tomatoes, cotton, and solar power materials, which have been subject to forced labor controversies.

Western countries, including the U.S., claim that since 2016, China has established detention camps holding around one million people, imprisoning Uygurs and other Muslim minorities for forced labor. China denies these claims, calling them "complete fabrications."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.