UK lawmakers slam Shein for refusing to answer questions on China cotton

A lawyer for Shein summoned to a British parliamentary hearing evaded questions Tuesday on whether the fast-fashion giant sells products containing cotton from China, angering lawmakers seeking answers on the retailer’s labour practices and allegations of forced labour in its supply chains.

Executives from Shein and its rival Temu were grilled on their labour rights compliance and how they source their products at parliament’s business and trade committee Tuesday.

The hearing came amid reports that Shein, which was founded in China but is now based in Singapore, is preparing for a £50 billion (US$62 billion) listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first quarter of this year.

Both global retailers are growing in popularity worldwide 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 were committed by Beijing against members of the ethnic Uygur 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.