The exiled leader of China's minority Muslim Uighurs is pressing countries to cut trade links with Beijing, saying the time for business as usual is over.

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Dolkun Isa, president of the Uighur peoples, is due to meet Swiss Foreign Ministry officials on Thursday to lobby the neutral country, which has a free trade agreement with China, where major Swiss banks and companies are active.

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Isa was speaking on Wednesday after two leaked troves of classified Chinese government documents provided evidence of mass detention camps for Uighurs in its western Xinjiang region.

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Beijing denies any mistreatment of the Uighurs or others in Xinjiang, saying it is providing vocational training to help stamp out "extremism" and secession and teach new skills.

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The New York Times newspaper published the details of the first set of leaked Chinese government documents on the details its clampdown on Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang.

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It is estimated that at least 1,800,000 Uighur Muslims have been sent to these "detention camps". Earlier this year, the UN estimated these numbers to be around 1,000,000.