Shein is pushing ahead with its initial public offer in the US despite being under scrutiny from lawmakers over its labour practices.
According to a Reuters report, the US$60bn fast-fashion group has officially registered with the US regulators, paving the way for one of the largest-ever public offers from a Chinese company on the US stock market.
Sources revealed that Shein submitted its IPO registration under confidential terms with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A bipartisan group has pressured the SEC to investigate Shein’s treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang region. The bipartisan group has also lobbied to throw out any potential IPO filing from Shein.
A 2022 Bloomberg report found that Shein garments contained cotton sourced from Xinjiang, where human rights groups accuse China of forced labour and other human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.
Though US-China relations are at historic lows, and many Chinese companies have had to rethink their UP IPO plans, this is largest relegated to the politically sensitive technology sector.
Under founder Chris Xu, Shein moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2022 in order to increase the viability of an overseas listing.
Shein is backed by private equity from General Atlantic, Mubadala, Tiger Global and Sequoia.