BASF divested its shares in two joint ventures in XUAR following reports linking its local partners to alleged Uyghur forced labour and growing international pressure to withdraw from the region.
On 21 April 2025, BASF divested its shares in two joint venture companies based in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR): (i) BASF Markor Chemical Manufacturing (Xinjiang) Co., Ltd. and (ii) Markor Meiou Chemical (Xinjiang) Co., Ltd. in Korla, China. Both companies were sold to Verde Chemical Singapore Pte. Ltd, which is majority controlled by Verde Ventures SGP, a Singapore-registered company. The sale follows a process that began in late 2023 and was formally accelerated in early 2024. The financial details were not disclosed.
The divestment follows sustained scrutiny from governments, media, and civil society over BASF’s ties to XUAR. Both joint ventures—established in partnership with Markor Chemical in 2016— received criticism following an investigation by German outlets Der Spiegel and ZDF linking Markor to alleged Uyghur forced labour. Markor is a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned Xinjiang Zhongtai Group, which was added to the US Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) Entity List in September 2023. That designation triggered further attention, including a letter from 30 members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) urging BASF to exit the region. In November 2023, Handelsblatt also reported on US sanctions against Zhongtai Group over alleged forced labour.
BASF is the largest chemical producer in the world and China is BASF’s second largest market after the US. According to BASF’s website, it has invested more than EUR 8 billion in the country over the last twenty years.