Shein: Chinese fashion giant re-enters India five years after ban

Nikita Yadav

BBC News, Delhi

BBC A photo showing Shein India app on ios and google playstoreBBC

Five decades after Delhi banned the Chinese strong style software Shein, it relaunched in India through a partnership with American retailer Reliance Retail.

Reliance Retail’s official, who declined to be named, revealed to the BBC that the corporation has entered a long-term licensing agreement with the family firm to market products produced and sourced in India on the system. The team has not yet made an official notification.

Shein’s re-entry to the American business comes with tight conditions, which include saving all files within the region, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in December.

India outlawed Shein and lots of different Chinese programs, including TikTok, in 2020.

It claimed that this was in response to concerns about data security and that it was done in response to a rise in tensions between China and India following clashes between the two nations ‘ soldiers in a contentious Himalayan border region.

More than 10,000 people have so far downloaded the app, which was released in India on Friday nights. It is offering fashionwear for as little as 199 rupees ($ 2.30, £1.90 ).

According to a warning on the game, Shein will shortly offer providers throughout India, but only in the towns of Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru.

Over the past ten years, Shein has evolved from a little-known company to one of the biggest fast fashion stores on the planet. Now, it boats to users in 150 countries across the world.

Before the ban, it became a huge hit in India because it gave consumers a variety of choices to purchase modern designs for a reasonable price. Initial results of the ban left a gap in the American market, which was afterward filled by numerous local players.

According to experts, Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire of India, is launching Reliance Retail with Shein India and shifting away from its current method of selling global brands through its flagship Ajio online store.

Shein will be a modern partner while Reliance Retail will have complete control over its operations and data as a result of the revival, Goyal told the American parliament in December.

Shein won’t have any access rights to any user or app data, he said, and it will be kept there permanently.

Goyal furthermore clarified that the game was banned in India, never the” sales of Shein-branded products”.

As part of its efforts to encourage export of textiles and clothing from India, a Reliance Retail official said, Shein will employ India as a” provide source for its worldwide businesses” and will assist Reliance Retail in” building the network” and training American garment manufacturers.

Shein’s rejoinder in the relationship with Reliance Retail is a eminently unusual exclusion to India’s five-year-old restrictions on more than 200 Chinese programs.

American officials claimed that the ban came as a result of numerous complaints about the software ‘” stealing and unauthorized transmission of user information”

ByteDance’s TikTok and popular combat and survival game Player Unknown’s Battleground ( PUBG ) were also banned.

However, PubG was later renamed and launched for the Indian market under the name Battlegrounds Mobile India ( BGMI ), which is owned by Krafton India.

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