The commission will oversee so-called super-large online platforms under the threat of various regulatory relief and possible fines worth up to 6 percent of Shein's global annual revenue.
This joins more than 20 major platforms such as AliExpress, TikTok, and Amazon that are already designated as very large online platforms. Chinese e-commerce platform Temu will also face additional regulation in the coming months after announcing this month that it is visited by 75 million Europeans every month.
Initially a retailer selling its own products, Shein became a platform last year when it launched an online marketplace selling products from other manufacturers. Amazon and European marketplace Zalando are currently challenging the EU's move to regulate retailers under digital content law.
The company moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2021 and began selling in European countries in the early 2010s.
Mr. Shein has been accused of using forced labor in China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, a charge he denies. It is now the target of efforts by French lawmakers to rein in fast fashion companies under new environmental laws.
Leonard Lin, Global Head of Communications at Shein, said: “We share the European Commission's ambition to ensure that consumers in the EU can shop online with confidence, and we are committed to playing our part. We are working on it,'' he said. “We also share a commitment to DSA’s core principles of transparency and accountability, as reflected in our supply chain governance standards and engagement with users.”
This article has been updated to include comments from Shein.
