(Yicai) Sept. 25 -- China's commerce ministry said it has opened an investigation into PVH, the company that owns US fashion brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, for suspected discrimination against products from the country’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 

The probe follows media reports accusing PVH of unjustly boycotting Xinjiang products such as cotton, thereby harming the legitimate rights of Chinese companies and threatening China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests, a ministry spokesperson said yesterday.

The ministry has launched the investigation in accordance with China’s Unreliable Entity List regulations and will take appropriate measures based on the findings, the person added. The list was introduced in 2019 as a mechanism to sanction foreign businesses or individuals deemed to violate Chinese laws or damage national security.

PVH has been given 30 days to submit written materials and evidence to the Unreliable Entity List Office detailing any discriminatory measures taken against Xinjiang products over the past three years. Individuals and organizations are also encouraged to report any violations made by the New York-based company and provide supporting evidence.

The Chinese government remains committed to high-level openness and maintaining a multilateral trading system, taking action only against a few foreign entities that violate market rules and local laws, the spokesperson said regarding concerns about China's stance toward foreign investment, noting that honest and law-abiding foreign firms have nothing to fear.

Established in 1881, PVH is the world’s second-largest apparel company, with annual revenue  climbing 2 percent last year to USD9.2 billion last year.

Shares of PVH [NYSE: PVH] closed 0.9 percent lower at USD96.05 apiece in New York yesterday, bringing the stock’s decline to 21 percent so far this year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev