By W. G. S. D. Wijesinghe, Jadetimes news
Chinese fast fashion giant Shein has disclosed that it identified two instances of child labour within its supply chain last year, as part of its efforts to enhance oversight of the companies producing its apparel. The company temporarily halted orders from the implicated suppliers and only resumed business with them after they implemented measures to address the issue.
This revelation is included in Shein's 2023 sustainability report and comes amid speculation that the company is preparing for a public share offering. Shein has faced criticism for the working conditions in factories within its supply chain. In response to the child labour cases, Shein stated that both incidents were resolved promptly, with actions taken such as terminating contracts with underage workers, ensuring outstanding wages were paid, arranging medical checkups, and facilitating repatriation to parents or legal guardians where necessary. After appropriate remediation, the suppliers were allowed to resume business.
Shein also announced that it has tightened its supplier policies, making any violations related to child labour or forced labour grounds for immediate termination of contracts. The company noted that these two cases were discovered during the first nine months of 2023, with no further incidents reported in the last quarter of the year.
The disclosure comes as Shein prepares for a potential stock market listing, with reports indicating that the company filed initial documents for a London listing earlier this year. In June, Marco Rubio, a leading Republican on the US Senate Intelligence Committee and an ally of Donald Trump, wrote to then UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, expressing "grave ethics concerns" about Shein's "deep ties to the People’s Republic of China," and highlighting issues such as "slave labour, sweatshops, and trade tricks" allegedly underpinning Shein’s success.
At that time, a spokesperson for Shein emphasized that the company has a zero tolerance policy for forced labour and is committed to respecting human rights, stressing that Shein takes supply chain visibility seriously and requires its manufacturers to source cotton only from approved regions. This statement followed a report by Swiss advocacy group Public Eye, which criticized the prevalence of excessive overtime among workers in Shein's supply chain. Shein responded by stating it was "working hard" to address the concerns raised and had made "significant progress on enhancing conditions."
