Shares of Fast Retailing declined as much as 4.5%, the most since Sept. 30, after a spokesperson said the company is concerned about Chinese demand following comments from its chairman that the retailer is not using cotton from Xinjiang.

Chairman Tadashi Yanai said in BBC interview published this week that Uniqlo doesn’t source cotton from that region of China’s far west, where the US has restricted trade.

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.

Uniqlo is facing an online backlash in China after the boss of its parent company said the Japanese clothing retailer does not source cotton from Xinjiang. Fast Retailing's chief executive Tadashi Yanai said Uniqlo was "not using" cotton from the western Chinese province in a BBC interview this week.

Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo’s founder, Tadashi Yanai, told the BBC in an exclusive interview that the company "does not use Xinjiang cotton," which is produced through forced labor. The statement quickly sparked a backlash among Chinese netizens on Friday,

Tadashi Yanai, chairman and president of Uniqlo clothing chain operator Fast Retailing Co., has caused controversy in China for ･･･