Apparel companies have expressed concerns in recent months about the treatment of Uyghur people in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in north-west China, but reports from there say there has been a surge in shipments of cotton from the region in the first seven months of this year. Xinjiang is the source of more than 80% of Chinese cotton.

Railfreight company China Railway Urumqi has reported that its shipments of cotton from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in the first seven months of this year totalled 2.7 million tonnes.

According to the railway company, this represents an increase of 83% year on year.

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