The boss of the company behind global fashion chain Uniqlo has told the BBC that the Japanese firm does not use cotton from the Xinjiang region of China in its products.

It is the first time Fast Retailing's chief executive Tadashi Yanai has directly addressed the contentious issue. [...]

Xinjiang cotton was once known as some of the best fabric in the world.

But it has fallen out of favour after allegations that it is produced using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority. Beijing has consistently denied these allegations.

In 2022, tough US regulations on the import of goods from Xinjiang came into effect.

Many global brands removed products using Xinjiang cotton from their shelves, which led to fierce backlash in China. Brands such as H&M, Nike, Burberry, Esprit and Adidas were boycotted.

Sweden's H&M saw its clothing pulled from major e-commerce stores in China.

At the time, Mr Yanai - who is Japan's richest man - refused to confirm or deny whether Xinjiang cotton was used in Uniqlo clothing, saying he wanted "to be neutral between the US and China". [...]

Isaac Stone Fish, the chief executive and founder of Strategy Risks, a business intelligence firm with a China focus highlights the pressures on firms from both China and the US.

"Not a single large company can remain politically neutral anymore," he says.

"Both Beijing and Washington want companies to choose sides, and Tokyo will continue to lean closer to the United States in this matter." [...]

Meanwhile, China is Uniqlo's single biggest manufacturing hub. The company also makes clothes in countries including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia and India. [...]