Shares of Fast Retailing declined as much as 4.5%, the most since Sept. 30, after a spokesperson said the company is concerned about Chinese demand following comments from its chairman that the retailer is not using cotton from Xinjiang.

The boss of the company behind global fashion chain Uniqlo has told the BBC that the Japanese firm does not use cotton from the Xinjiang region of China in its products. It is the first time Fast Retailing's chief executive Tadashi Yanai has directly addressed the contentious issue.

Uniqlo is facing online backlash in China after the Fast Retailing's chief executive Tadashi Yanai said the clothing retailer does not source cotton from Xinjiang. Conversations around cotton sourced from Xinjiang have been a trigger point with Chinese consumers for the past few years given China has been accused of using forced labour by people from the minority Muslim Uyghur minority in its production.