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Tan Poh Hwee
Opinion
Tan Poh Hwee

Why Shein’s French fines are a warning to Chinese firms going global

Chinese firms going global can’t just enter foreign markets – they must also work to earn the trust required to stay there

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French police walk past the BHV Marais department store in Paris on November 5, 2025, the day of the opening of Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein’s first physical store inside BHV. Photo: Reuters
Tan Poh Hwee
Tan Poh Hwee is president of the Asia Academy of Digital Economics, a Singapore-based non-profit, and a corresponding fellow of the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence.

On June 3, French authorities said they had imposed two new fines on Shein totalling more than €22 million (US$25.4 million), citing problems related to product traceability, environmental information, return rights and delivery times. Shein called the penalties disproportionate and said it would contest them.

However, the broader issue is not whether one enforcement decision was too severe. With these latest penalties, fines imposed by French authorities on the Chinese-founded company have exceeded €210 million. That number points to a deeper question: can a business model built on speed, low prices and cross-border scale meet the governance expectations of mature overseas markets?

For many Chinese companies, globalisation has moved through three stages. The first was the manufacturing phase, when Chinese firms won markets through cost, capacity and supply-chain discipline. The second was the platform phase, when e-commerce, apps, logistics and digital services allowed Chinese companies to reach consumers directly. The third phase, now emerging, is governance.

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