The Commission will supervise the so-called very large online platform under threat of various regulatory curbs and potential fines of up to 6 percent of Shein’s global annual revenue.
It joins more than 20 major platforms such as AliExpress, TikTok and Amazon that have already been designated as very large online platforms. Chinese e-commerce platform Temu is also set to face extra rules in the coming months after it said this month it is visited by 75 million Europeans every month.
Shein initially was a retailer selling its own products but last year became a platform when it started an online marketplace selling goods from other manufacturers. Amazon and a European marketplace, Zalando, are currently challenging the EU’s move to regulate retailers under the digital content law.
The company, which moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2021, started selling in European countries in the early 2010s.
Shein has been under fire for using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, which it denies. It’s also currently the target of French lawmakers’ efforts to rein in fast-fashion companies under a new environmental law.
Shein didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
