The Norwegian central bank said Monday it would divest from sports brand Li-Ning “due to unacceptable risk that the company contributes to serious human rights violations”, after its ethics council linked the company with forced labour in China’s Xinjiang region, reports South China Morning Post.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian reacted to the development and told reporters: "China has stressed many times that the accusation of so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is a preposterous lie invented by anti-China forces and has no factual basis."

"We hope relevant parties can distinguish right from wrong and will not be deceived by lies so as to avoid unnecessary losses to their own interests," he said.

Who are Uyghur Muslims?

Uyghur Muslims are a Turkic minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia.

The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.