When the US government announced the addition of 43 Chinese companies to an import blacklist in late July over allegations of forced labour in the country’s western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region – including several household food and apparel brands – the local reaction to the news was surprisingly calm.

“It felt like a sudden batch of companies was added out of nowhere … but it shouldn’t have much of an impact on the sector,” said the owner of a cotton-ginning mill in southern Xinjiang, who spoke on condition