Retail giant Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M) returned to Chinese ecommerce platform Tmall more than a year after it was removed as part of a broader boycott of the Swedish company for its comments about Xinjiang cotton.

H&M ranks No. 11 in Digital Commerce 360’s Europe database, which ranks online retailers in the region by web sales.

The online store, which has more than 14 million subscribers, is now available on the marketplace owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., according to a Bloomberg News search on Tuesday. Most of the product options show single-digit monthly sales volumes, indicating it hasn’t been open for long. Tmall ranks No. 2 in Digital Commerce 360’s top 100 global online marketplaces database.

Its outlet locations are still unavailable on Apple Maps and Baidu Maps searches. H&M declined to comment and Alibaba didn’t immediately respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment.

It’s the first time the Swedish retailer has managed to reopen its Tmall store since March 2021. That’s when social media users dug out an undated company statement expressing concerns about accusations of forced labor of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. H&M’s treatment became symbolic of the risks Western companies face operating in increasingly nationalistic China, with the company facing the harshest backlash among other big brands including Nike Inc. Nike ranks No. 10 in the Top 500, Digital Commerce 360’s rankings of online retailers in North America by web sales.

H&M had been holding weekly talks with Alibaba about returning to the online platform, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg earlier this year. They could still sell products on their self-run website.

As well as vanishing from online marketplaces and maps, about 60 of its stores closed — roughly 12% of the brand’s total Chinese network — as the furore escalated. While the apparel giant is less China-focused than brands like Uniqlo or Nike, the nation accounts for about 3% of sales and is home to almost one in 10 brick-and-mortar stores. It’s also H&M’s biggest manufacturing hub, with more than a third of its suppliers.

H&M CEO Helena Helmersson said in March that “when it comes to China, we are still in a complicated situation.”

Still, Tmall users may face difficulties finding the store. When typing the words “HM Official Flagship Store,” the store appears on the screen. But the official store won’t show for terms like “HM” or “H&M.” That’s common when China’s online marketplaces and social media intend to filter some sensitive words.

The company is yet to trumpet its return to potential customers. Its Weibo account does not mention the move. It has just 10 posts since the boycott started in March last year. That compares with at least 10,000 posts between 2011 and 2021, according to Bloomberg News-compiled data.

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