US sanctions Chinese solar firms for Uighur human rights abuses

Export restrictions target companies that produce raw materials used in Xinjiang’s solar panel industry.

The United States on Wednesday restricted exports to five Chinese companies that it said were implicated in Chinese human rights violations, including large producers of polysilicon for the solar panel industry. The companies were listed over human rights violations and abuses of Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, according to a US government filing on Wednesday. The US Department of Commerce said the firms are accepting or utilising forced labour. The companies added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List include Hoshine Silicon Industry; Xinjiang Daqo New Energy, a unit of Daqo New Energy Corp; Xinjiang East Hope Nonferrous Metals, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based manufacturing giant East Hope Group; Xinjiang GCL New Energy Material and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).