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The founder of Shein has underlined the company’s roots in China’s Guangdong province, praising local communist and government officials for their support as the company continues to expand, according to the Financial Times.
Speaking at an event organised by the Guangdong government, Xu Yangtian’s remarks contrasted with Shein’s recent efforts to portray itself as a Singapore-headquartered global platform amid global regulatory scrutiny and IPO preparations.
The company moved its corporate headquarters to Singapore in 2022. Although founded in Nanjing, the business maintains its supply-chain headquarters in Guangdong, where it has nearly 10,000 partner manufacturers.
The Financial Times previously reported that attempts to distance itself from China had frustrated regulators in Beijing, however.
Yangtian pledged to invest Rmb10bn (£1bn) in supply chains in Guangdong over the next three years, saying leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and government in the province had given his company vital support.
Speaking at his first major public appearance, he said: “Guangdong is where Shein has its roots and also where our struggle began. We are sure that, on the wave of Guangdong’s high-quality development, Shein can together with this dynamic land make ‘made in Guangdong’ the global standard for the fashion industry.
“Shein’s achievements today would not have been possible without the Guangdong provincial party committee and provincial government’s attentive guidance.”
Last year, it was reported that Shein was considering a move back to China in order to enable it to go public in Hong Kong.
At the time, sources told Bloomberg that Shein had reportedly consulted lawyers about setting up a parent company in mainland China, though talks were said to be preliminary and with “no guarantee” that a move would proceed.
It comes as the group failed to gain regulatory approvals to go public in New York and London, “raising the stakes” for its plan to list in Hong Kong, where it would need approval from the Chinese authorities.
