In 2022, the U.S. government added a Chinese manufacturer of refrigerators and other household appliances to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List. Despite this action designed to prevent exports to the U.S., the company’s products continue to reach U.S. consumers, a Kharon investigation has found.
Changhong Meiling Co. Ltd. is one of China’s largest manufacturers and distributors of home refrigerators and freezers. The company was added to the UFLPA Entity List and the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) Entity List under its previous name – Hefei Meiling Co. Ltd. – which it moved away from in 2018.
Prior to being added to those entity lists, Changhong Meiling received 89 workers in 2017 who were transferred from Xinjiang. According to local Chinese media reports, the transferred laborers were accompanied by Xinjiang government cadres and police, and housed at the company’s facilities where they were provided with food, lodging, and Mandarin language training.
Such activities have been highlighted as red flags for companies benefiting from forced labor of Uyghurs from Xinjiang, according to the U.S. government and international agencies.
Changhong Meiling, based in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, is publicly traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Its controlling shareholder, Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd, trades publicly on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Changhong Meiling manufactures several home appliance products, including refrigerators sold under the “CHiQ” trademark it licenses from its parent, or alternatively as OEM products that reach consumers under other brand names.
A review of trade data and other business records shows that an online appliance business based in New York received OEM kitchen appliance models shipped by Changhong Meiling as late as October 2022, four months after it was added to the UFLPA Entity List. The OEM models shipped to New York appear to have nearly identical specifications to some CHiQ branded models, according to online user manuals for the products.
After October 2022 through at least June 2023, the New York appliance company received additional shipments of the same appliance models. However, those appliances were shipped from a logistics company based in Zhejiang, a province in Eastern China, trade records show.
Under UFLPA rules, goods produced in whole or in part by a listed entity are subject to import restrictions.
Changhong Meiling Co. Ltd. is one of China’s largest manufacturers and distributors of home refrigerators and freezers. The company was added to the UFLPA Entity List and the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) Entity List under its previous name – Hefei Meiling Co. Ltd. – which it moved away from in 2018.
Prior to being added to those entity lists, Changhong Meiling received 89 workers in 2017 who were transferred from Xinjiang. According to local Chinese media reports, the transferred laborers were accompanied by Xinjiang government cadres and police, and housed at the company’s facilities where they were provided with food, lodging, and Mandarin language training.
Such activities have been highlighted as red flags for companies benefiting from forced labor of Uyghurs from Xinjiang, according to the U.S. government and international agencies.
Changhong Meiling, based in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, is publicly traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Its controlling shareholder, Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd, trades publicly on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
Changhong Meiling manufactures several home appliance products, including refrigerators sold under the “CHiQ” trademark it licenses from its parent, or alternatively as OEM products that reach consumers under other brand names.
A review of trade data and other business records shows that an online appliance business based in New York received OEM kitchen appliance models shipped by Changhong Meiling as late as October 2022, four months after it was added to the UFLPA Entity List. The OEM models shipped to New York appear to have nearly identical specifications to some CHiQ branded models, according to online user manuals for the products.
After October 2022 through at least June 2023, the New York appliance company received additional shipments of the same appliance models. However, those appliances were shipped from a logistics company based in Zhejiang, a province in Eastern China, trade records show.
Under UFLPA rules, goods produced in whole or in part by a listed entity are subject to import restrictions.
Excerpts from the user manual of one model of refrigerator sold by Changong Meiling, and later a Chinese logistics company, to an appliance business in New York (top), and excerpts from the user manual of a similar CHiQ refrigerator. (bottom)
Appliance sellers in Puerto Rico and Miami also appear to have received CHiQ refrigerators as recently as January 2024, shipment records show, having purchased such items from a Hong Kong-based sister company of the UFLPA-listed manufacturer.
The Puerto Rico and Miami businesses received the appliances from Changhong International Holding (HK) Co., Ltd., the affiliate company, which is wholly owned by Sichuan Changhong Electric. Changhong Meiling has sold tens of millions of dollars worth of refrigerators and other appliances to the Hong Kong-based sister company, according to public records reviewed by Kharon. Neither Changhong International Holding (HK) nor Sichuan Changhong Electric appear on the BIS or UFLPA entity lists.
These findings come as U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration to ramp up enforcement of the UFLPA by targeting companies outside of Xinjiang with ties to forced labor from Xinjiang and identifying new products that benefit from forced labor.
The Puerto Rico and Miami businesses received the appliances from Changhong International Holding (HK) Co., Ltd., the affiliate company, which is wholly owned by Sichuan Changhong Electric. Changhong Meiling has sold tens of millions of dollars worth of refrigerators and other appliances to the Hong Kong-based sister company, according to public records reviewed by Kharon. Neither Changhong International Holding (HK) nor Sichuan Changhong Electric appear on the BIS or UFLPA entity lists.
These findings come as U.S. lawmakers urged the Biden administration to ramp up enforcement of the UFLPA by targeting companies outside of Xinjiang with ties to forced labor from Xinjiang and identifying new products that benefit from forced labor.
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