China’s fast fashion company Shein has been re-launched in India, nearly five years after it was banned in 2020, through a deal it had negotiated with Reliance Retail. The new app, developed and run by Reliance Retail, is available on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
Shein was banned around June 2020 along with 58 other Chinese applications including TikTok, Weibo, PUBG, WeChat, among others by the Indian government amid raging concerns on aspects relating to data security and safeguarding the privacy of citizens. The Ministry of Electronics and IT said that the decision was taken “upon receiving credible inputs that such Apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India.”
Despite the ban, some platforms like Amazon were selling Shein products in India. However, the latest app launch means that the Chinese fashion giant is now back in India in its full capacity and can run its operations.
Shein, which is also weighing a $6.6 billion London IPO, is re-entering India after assuring authorities that the Chinese fast fashion company would source goods from India for its global operations.
It is also possible that Shein will manufacture its products here and export them to the world, a move that helped in regulatory approval, as per media reports.
Also, the manufacturing of its products could happen in the country and the company could export the goods to other parts of the world.
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