UK MPs have also expressed concern, but Labour’s shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds indicated on Monday that he would welcome Shein listing its shares in London, as it would open the company up to closer scrutiny.
In a business election debate, hosted by Bloomberg, Mr Reynolds said he had met representatives from the company.
“My view on any business of this sort is that if they’re doing business in the UK, we should ideally seek to regulate them from the UK.
“The kind of expectations we would have, whether that is on labour market or regulatory compliance, or tax – that is best done from them being based in the UK.
“So if a listing was to be considered, I would want that, because I would know that is the way we can enforce the high standards we would expect,” he added.
His opponent in the debate, the Conservative Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, said she had concerns over a potential listing but added: “It doesn’t mean we don’t want them.”
Admitting that she was yet to meet anyone from the company, Ms Badenoch said one concern was around Shein’s business model of sending smaller packages direct to customers in the UK. Under customs rules, duties are not paid on goods under £135 and she said that could mean “quite a lot lost in terms of taxes” for the government.
Ms Badenoch also said she would “want to look at” allegations around forced labor.
“The City is regulated and we have regulators that do that. I’m talking specifically about this business and what we’d want to see.
“We don’t want a situation where the business secretary is interfering in every single listing… but those are my specific problems with Shein,” Ms Badenoch said.
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