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.

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.