Businesses with potential exposure in their supply chain to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang)or to facilities outside Xinjiang that use labor or goods from Xinjiang should be aware of the reputational, economic, and legal risks of involvement with entities that engage in human rights abuses, including but not limited to forced labor in the manufacture of goods intended for domestic and international distribution. In order to mitigate reputational, economic, legal,and other risks, businesses should apply industry human rights due diligence policies and procedures to address risks.The People’s Republic of China (PRC) government continues to carry out a campaign of repression in Xinjiang, targeting Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, and members of other Muslim minority groups. Specific abuses include mass arbitrary detentions,severe physical and psychological abuse,forced labor and other labor abuses, oppressive surveillance used arbitrarily or unlawfully, religious persecution,political indoctrination, forced sterilization, and other infringements of the rights of members of those groups in Xinjiang.Survivor and family member accounts conveyed through Non Governmental Organizations and media reports indicate the PRC government has been using discriminatory immigration policies to cancel the passports of and lure diasporic Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, and ethnic Kyrgyz individuals back to China and intern them, and that some holders of Kazakhstani citizenship have also been detained while visiting family members in Xinjiang and similarly arrested and interned.There have also been credible reports that the PRC government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghurs and othersfrom Xinjiang to factories across China, including under conditions offorcedor involuntary labor.Businesses with supply chain exposure to entities involved in human rights abuses in Xinjiang or the use of forced labor in Xinjiang should be aware of the risks outlined in this advisory and should implement human rights-related due diligence policies and procedures. Businesses and other organizations under taking due diligence practices should be aware of reports of auditors being detained, threatened, harassed, and subjected to constant surveillance related to this ongoing issue.

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