Shein aims to list in Hong Kong as London IPO stalls, sources say

Hong Kong/Dubai/London — Shein is working towards a listing in Hong Kong after the online fast-fashion retailer’s proposed initial public offering (IPO) in London failed to secure the green light from Chinese regulators, sources said.

The China-founded company aims to file a draft prospectus with Hong Kong’s stock exchange in the coming weeks, one of three sources said. Shein plans to go public in the Asian financial hub this year, they said.

Shein plans to change the listing venue as it had not yet received approval for its London IPO from Chinese regulators, notably the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), they said.

The company, which sells low-cost clothing, in March secured approval from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for its IPO in London, and informed the CSRC.

The company initially expected the green light from Chinese regulators to follow swiftly after the FCA but there was an unexpected delay and limited communication from the CSRC, a source said.

Details about Shein’s Hong Kong listing plan have not been reported previously. All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Shein and the CSRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) declined to comment on individual companies.

Before its attempt to list in London, Shein had pursued a listing in New York, as part of its efforts to gain legitimacy as a global, rather than a Chinese company, and access to a wide pool of large Western investors.

A listing in Hong Kong would go against that strategy and could hurt its global credentials.

Allegations that Shein’s products contain cotton from China’s Xinjiang region and a planned legal challenge to the London IPO by a NGO campaigning against forced labour in China have complicated the London listing and risk embarrassment for the Chinese government, a separate source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Tensions with the US over trade only worsen the wariness of Beijing and the CSRC, the source said.

The US and NGOs accuse China of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where they say Uyghur people are forced to work producing cotton and other goods. Beijing has denied any abuses.

Shein, founded by China-born entrepreneur Sky Xu, claims to have a zero-tolerance policy over forced labour and child labour in its supply chain. The company moved its headquarters from Nanjing, China, to Singapore in 2022.

As it awaited a response from the CSRC, Shein earlier this month dropped the communications firms Brunswick and FGS it had hired to help with public relations ahead of the London listing.

Shein’s filings with the CSRC make it subject to Beijing’s listing rules for Chinese firms going public offshore, two sources have said.

The rules are applied on “a substance over form” basis, giving the CSRC discretion on when and how to implement them, they added.

Shein does not own or operate any factories, and instead sources its products from 7,000 third-party suppliers in China, as well as some factories in other countries such as Brazil and Turkey.

Shein’s aim was to go public in London in the first half of this year. But its business model of sending products straight from factories to shoppers around the world has been disrupted by the Trump administration ending duty-free access and slapping steep tariffs on e-commerce packages from China.

The “de minimis” exemption allowed e-commerce packages from China worth less than $800 to enter the US duty-free and helped Shein, Temu, and Amazon Haul sell clothes, gadgets and accessories extremely cheaply.

Now, those parcels are subject to a minimum tariff of 30%.

Regardless of where Shein lists, its eventual IPO valuation will hinge on the impact of the removal of the de minimis exemption, according to insiders. The US exemption is still in place for goods that are not from China or Hong Kong.

The EU has also proposed changes to its duty exemption on parcels under €150, adding to pressure on the business model.

Earlier this year Shein was set to cut its valuation in a potential London listing to about $50bn, nearly a quarter less than the $66bn valuation it had achieved in a $2bn private fundraising in 2023.

A revival in Hong Kong’s capital market, with sizeable recent listings including Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL’s $5.3bn float, the world’s largest listing this year, augurs well for a potential Shein IPO in the city.

Companies have raised $9.7bn in Hong Kong through IPOs and second listings so far in 2025, compared with $1.05bn at the same time last year, according to LSEG data.

Reuters