Chinese cotton industry is moving ahead with plans to form a fairer and more transparent international industry standard-setting platform to replace the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a Switzerland-based nongovernmental organization, as the latter failed to facilitate the positive and sound development of the global cotton supply chain.

The BCI, which had been the leader in the global cotton industry, has been under heavy fire both in China and abroad for its baseless "force labor" claims against cotton from Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and is losing membership and leadership in the global industry.

In the latest development, US brand Levi Strauss was standing down from the BCI's leadership amid debate over the group's response to "alleged human rights abuses" in Xinjiang's cotton industry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The US firm's reported move came after the BCI and H&M sparked widespread anger in China over their baseless claims against Xinjiang cotton. Meanwhile, several other large international fashion brands, including FILA and MUJI, expressed their strong support for Xinjiang cotton in defiance of BCI's claim.

Chinese industry experts said Levi's move is in line with expectation since the BCI's illusion over Xinjiang cotton not only damaged its own industry reputation but also bring about risks of uncertainty to the global textile supply chain, in which Xinjiang cotton holds a significant share.

The weakened BCI has created an opportunity for the Chinese industry to establish a new coalition for quality evaluation, say experts.

By Fashionating World
https://www.fashionatingworld.com/new1-2/china-to-set-up-new-industry-platform-to-replace-bci