HONG KONG - Shein, the Chinese online fashion retailer worth more than US$60 billion (S$81.4 billion) that is under scrutiny from US lawmakers over its labour practices, has registered with regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) in New York, people familiar with the matter said.
The stock market debut could make Shein the most valuable Chinese company to go public in the United States since ride-hailing giant Didi Global listed in New York in 2021 at a US$68 billion valuation. Didi was delisted from New York a year later amid Beijing’s crackdown on Chinese technology giants over antitrust and data security rules.
Shein has confidentially submitted its IPO registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the sources said.
The stock market debut could come before the end of 2023, the sources added.
A spokesman for Shein said by e-mail that the company “denies these rumours”.
The spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for further details.
The SEC declined to comment.
Shein has been eyeing a US IPO for at least three years, but was deterred by headwinds that included US scrutiny of Chinese accounting practices and bouts of market volatility fuelled by the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The company’s founder Chris Xu moved the company’s headquarters to Singapore from Nanjing, capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, more than a year ago, a move that helps Shein circumvent China’s tough new rules on overseas listings.
In pressing on with its IPO plans, Shein is braving heightened tensions between the US and China over trade, sensitive technology, human rights and the future of Taiwan.
Its IPO is opposed by a bipartisan group of two dozen US representatives, who have asked the SEC to verify that the company does not use force labour before allowing it to proceed with a New York listing.
Shein has said it adheres to ethical sourcing standards and has denied allegations that it ships from China’s Xinjiang region, where materials such as cotton are often the product of forced labour by the Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority.
The US bans exports from Xinjiang for this reason.
US lawmakers are also seeking to restrict the “de minimis” tariff exemption widely used by e-commerce retailers such as Shein to send orders from China to the US.
A US federal brief in April accused Shein of exploiting the exemption to avoid duties and import illegally made items.
Shein was valued in excess of US$60 billion in a US$2 billion private fund-raising round in March.
General Atlantic, Mubadala, Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital China are among its investors. REUTERS
