BMW said it was "continuously" monitoring suppliers' compliance

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Beijing to administer. . The complaints against Mercedes-Benz and BMW focused on some indirect and direct suppliers based in or near Xinjiang, which the ECCHR said were likely at risk of using forced labor. Also highlighted was the automakers' relationship with CATL, which produces almost a third of all electric vehicle batteries, as the Chinese battery maker began expanding its presence in Xinjiang last year. The three complaints stated that raw materials leaving Xinjiang, such as copper, lithium and aluminum, posed an especially "high" risk of being linked to forced labor. VW, BMW and Mercedes-Benz declined to comment on the complaints, saying they had not yet been contacted by German regulators. Mercedes-Benz added that "whenever concerns arise, we press suppliers for clarification" and said it regularly carried out spot checks with suppliers in China.

Standards and "consistently" investigating potential violations. CATL and SAIC Motor did not respond to requests for comment. The cases will now be reviewed by Germany's Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Russia Mobile Number List Export Control, which said it would take "the necessary time." The authority said it has received 10 complaints or allegations related to supply chain problems in the last six months. European companies operating in China face conflicting regulations. While European Union member states are implementing laws to force companies to conduct corporate supply chain due diligence, China has made doing so very dangerous with its recent Anti-Espionage Law and crackdown on consulting and auditing companies. In March, US due diligence firm Mintz was raided, partly as a result of its work in Xinjiang.



As long as there are no credible and effective due diligence mechanisms in place, companies must cease their business activities in the Uyghur region,” said Miriam Saage-Maaß, legal director of ECCHR. Unrestricted access to Xinjiang has been impossible since the government enacted a high-security crackdown against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims, surveilling and following journalists entering the region. Recommended Last year, the United Nations concluded that there had been “large-scale arbitrary detentions” in the region, and that atrocities there could even amount to crimes against humanity. Earlier this year, Volkswagen China head Ralf Brandstätter announced that its Xinjiang plant was no longer producing cars and that there were no plans to resume production; Instead, he checks the quality of cars for sale in the region.