The China Cotton Association (CCA) has voiced strong opposition to the United States' decision to add 43 Chinese companies, including cotton textile firms, to the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List," saying the move seriously violates the basic rules of international trade.

In Xinjiang, a major cotton-producing region in China, more than 90 percent of cotton harvesting is now carried out by machines, with highly automated and large-scale operations covering the entire industrial chain from planting and harvesting to processing and textile production, the association said.