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

Shein, a well-known Chinese fast fashion app, has made its return to India after being banned for five years. This comeback is the result of a partnership with Reliance Retail, a major Indian company. An official from Reliance, who preferred to remain unnamed, shared with the BBC that they have entered into a long-term licensing agreement with Shein's parent company. This deal allows Shein to sell products that are manufactured and sourced in India on its platform. Although there has not been an official announcement from the company yet, the Shein app was launched in India on a Friday night and has already been downloaded by more than 10,000 users. The app offers a variety of fashionable clothing items starting at just 199 rupees, which is approximately $2. 30 or £1. 90. Currently, Shein is only delivering to three major cities: Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, but it plans to expand its services to cover the entire country soon. Over the last decade, Shein has transformed from a relatively unknown brand to one of the largest fast fashion retailers in the world, shipping products to customers in 150 countries. Before the ban, Shein was extremely popular in India, providing shoppers with a wide range of trendy designs at affordable prices. The ban created a gap in the Indian market, which was later filled by various local brands. Experts suggest that with Shein's re-entry into the Indian market, Reliance Retail, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is diversifying its strategy. Instead of solely selling international brands through its flagship Ajio online retailer, Reliance is now bringing back Shein. The revival of Shein comes with strict conditions that grant Reliance Retail full control over its operations and data, while Shein will act as a technological partner. Goyal, the Indian Commerce Minister, explained in December that all customer and application data will be stored in India, and Shein will not have any access rights to this data. He also clarified that the ban was specifically on the app, not on the sale of Shein-branded products. Shein will utilize India as a supply source for its global operations and will assist Reliance Retail in building a network and training Indian garment manufacturers. This initiative aims to promote the export of textiles and garments from India, according to an official from Reliance Retail. The return of Shein under this agreement with Reliance Retail is a rare exception to India's ban on more than 200 Chinese apps over the past five years. At the time of the ban, Indian officials cited numerous complaints against these apps for allegedly stealing and secretly transmitting users' data without authorization. Other popular apps, such as ByteDance's TikTok and the widely played combat game PlayerUnknown's Battleground (PUBG), were also banned. However, PUBG was later rebranded and relaunched in the Indian market under the name Battlegrounds Mobile India, which is now managed by Krafton India.