UK lawmakers summon Shein and Temu for questioning over labor practices

Online fast fashion retailer Shein, which hopes to list in London, faces a hearing in the United Kingdom on January 7 in which a British parliamentary committee plans to question the company, founded in China in 2008, over rights of workers in its supply chain. .

The cross-party Business and Trade Committee will also question Temu, the global online marketplace owned by Chinese e-commerce firm PDD Holdings, as part of an investigation into labor rights opened in October.

The committee, chaired by former Labor Minister Liam Byrne, is examining the government's flagship Employment Rights Bill in the context of protecting British workers. But it is also studying how to ensure adequate protection against the import of poor labor standards, including concerns about forced labor.

Shein's general counsel for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Yinan Zhu, has been called to witness, an update on the committee's website showed.

Stephen Heary, senior legal counsel at Temu, and Leonard Klenner, senior director of compliance at Temu, have also been asked to testify.

Shein declined to comment on the hearing. Temu was not immediately available for comment.

Both platforms, which sell clothing, shoes, gadgets and accessories at rock-bottom prices, have faced accusations of poor labor practices in the Chinese factories that make the products and of forced labor in their supply chains.

Shein has previously said it is committed to respecting human rights and has a zero-tolerance policy on forced labor. Temu has also said he strictly prohibits forced labor.

Shein was founded in China but is now based in Singapore.

Having grown rapidly in the US, Europe and the UK, it is awaiting regulatory approval from British and Chinese authorities for an initial public offering in London after filing documents with Britain's market regulator in early June.

Margaret Beels, director of labor market enforcement at the Department of Business and Trade, was also asked to speak at the hearing, along with independent anti-slavery commissioner Eleanor Lyons, who last year raised concerns about the departure to the Shein stock market in London.

McDonald's UK and Ireland managing director Alistair Macrow and Claire Lorains, technical director of quality and sustainability at supermarket group Tesco, were also called to give oral evidence.