Some of the wildly popular Labubu dolls made by Chinese company Pop Mart are being sold with clothes that contain cotton from the Xinjiang region of western China, which the U.S. government has banned because of its association with forced labor, The New York Times reports.

The Times bought 20 Labubus that were listed as containing cotton from various retailers in 2025, and had them independently examined to identify the source of the cotton. The tests confirmed that pieces of clothing from 16 of the 20 dolls contained cotton from Xinjiang, mainly their teeshirts. 

A spokeswoman for Pop Mart told the Times that it would conduct an investigation into the presence of Xinjiang cotton in its supply chains, and that the company held itself and its suppliers to “the highest standards.” Pop Mart added that only a small percentage of the dolls’ clothes contain cotton at all, and that it was working on a plan to use alternative materials in its products for sale in the U.S.

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Nonprofit groups have submitted information about Pop Mart’s use of cotton from Xinjiang and other alleged labor violations at its Chinese factories to officials at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which would be responsible for enforcing an import ban. The agency did not respond to the Times’ requests for comment.