Senior managers from Shein and its rival Temu were summoned to the UK’s parliamentary business and trade committee to answer questions about their labour rights compliance and how they sourced their products.
Executives representing fast-fashion giant Shein have refused to answer questions from UK politicians about whether the products the company sells contain cotton from China.
The senior managers from Shein and its rival Temu were summoned to Parliament’s business and trade committee to answer questions about their labour rights compliance and how they sourced their products. The hearing came amid reports that Shein, founded in China but now based in Singapore, is preparing for a £50bn (€60.3bn) listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of this year.
Claims of human rights abuses
Both global retailers are growing in global popularity for selling mostly Chinese-made clothes and products at bargain prices. But they have drawn criticism over allegations that their supply chains may be tainted by forced labour, including from China’s far-west Xinjiang province, where rights groups say serious human rights abuses have been committed by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uyghur group and other Muslim minorities.
Yinan Zhu, general counsel at Shein in London, declined to answer repeated questions at the hearing on whether cotton from Xinjiang or elsewhere in China is present in the products it sells.
She also refused to state whether its code of conduct prohibits its suppliers from sourcing Xinjiang cotton, or comment on whether the company feared there is forced labor in Xinjiang.
“I don’t think it’s our place to comment on … to having a geopolitical debate”, she said.
“We comply with the laws and regulations in the countries that we operate in. We are in compliance with relevant UK laws”, she added, insisting that thousands of audits are carried out on Shein’s behalf by verified external firms to ensure the robustness of its supply chains.
MPs “horrified” by lack of information
Committee chairman Liam Byrne said the parliamentary committee was “horrified” by the lack of information provided by Zhu and that her statements have given politicians “zero confidence” in the integrity of Shein’s supply chains.
“The reluctance to answer basic questions has frankly bordered on contempt”, Byrne said.
Shein was founded in China in 2012 and has grown rapidly to become a global leader in fast fashion, shipping to 150 countries. In October, Shein said it had doubled its profits in the UK in 2023, with sales up nearly 40% to £1.5bn (€1.8bn).
Its proposed London listing has drawn concerns from politicians and others including the UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner over potential ethical and governance issues.
An earlier attempt by Shein to list in the US was halted by American politicians who wanted the company to verify it does not use forced labour from China’s predominantly Muslim Uyghurpopulation.
Temu lawyer Stephen Heary told the hearing that forced labour was an issue its senior management was concerned about and that no sellers from the Xinjiang region were allowed to sell goods on the global online marketplace.
A US Congressional report in 2023 criticised Temu’s supply chains, saying there was an “extremely high risk” that it contained Chinese forced labour. The report said Temu “conducts no audits and reports no compliance system to affirmatively examine” whether its suppliers are observing US forced labour law.
Temu, launched in 2022, is owned by Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings. Along with Shein, it has won over scores of consumers for selling a vast selection of cheap goods – from clothing to homeware – that are shipped from China.
