Walmart Inc arm Sam's Club, responding to the furore in #China over what local media said was its deliberate removal of #Xinjiang-sourced products from its app, denied the move in a call with analysts and termed it "a misunderstanding". news.yahoo.com/exclusive-walm…
Chinese social media users and local news outlets criticised Sam's Club, a members only warehouse club that offers products and services, last week for the removal of the products from its domestic online stores.
China's anti-graft agency accused the U.S. retailer and Sam's Club of "stupidity and short-sightedness" over the matter.
A Sam's Club representative told local analysts in a call organised by a domestic securities firm last week that Chinese consumers failed to find products from Xinjiang because the app does not support searches for products based on names of places.
The call, a full recording of which was shared with Reuters by a participant, introduced the representative as Sam's Club regional e-commerce leader surnamed Zhang.
"This matter is a misunderstanding," Zhang said on the call.
"This matter is a misunderstanding," Zhang said on the call.
"We didn't defend ourselves, because, there is no reason to be afraid of things we haven't done," Zhang added. A second participant corroborated Zhang's comments made on the call, which also talked about Sam's Club's plans in China.
The controversy, which prompted a wave of Sam's Club shoppers in China to cancel their memberships, underscores the tightrope foreign companies walk in China as they balance geopolitical tensions between China and the west with China's importance as a market and supply base.
Chinese social media users turned against Sam's Club shortly after U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation on Dec. 23 banning imports from Xinjiang over concerns about forced labour.
Zhang said that Sam's Club, which has 4.4 million members in China, saw around 500 shoppers cancel their membership cards in its central region. He did not give a nationwide number.
"It has negative impact on our membership base, but time will prove everything in the future," he said.
"We think the potential in China is very big."
"We think the potential in China is very big."
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