Chinese social media users on Wednesday called for a boycott of H&M, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, after the Swedish company said it wouldn't use cotton from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In a statement in March last year, H&M said it wouldn't work with any Xinjiang garment manufacturing factories, nor would it source products from the region because the company was concerned about reports of accusations of forced labor.

Although the statement has been on its official website for more than one year, it recently caught attention after netizens reposted it on Chinese social media sites.