Indian tycoon brings Chinese app to home market after five-year ban 

Chinese fashion giant Shein will return to India via a partnership with the conglomerate Reliance as the two nations unfreeze ties

The Chinese fast fashion brand Shein has re-entered the Indian market after an absence of nearly five years thanks to a licensing agreement with Reliance Retail, a part of the Indian conglomerate Reliance led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani.  

The Shein India app and website were launched discreetly last Friday, Indian media reported on Monday. The partnership between Reliance and the fashion giant gives the Indian conglomerate full ownership and control of the Shein India platform, without holding any equity in Shein itself. The app was developed and is being hosted by Reliance within India, and the platform’s infrastructure and consumer data will also be based domestically, thus addressing possible security concerns, according to a report by the news agency PTI. 

Shein was among dozens of Chinese apps, including PubG and TikTok, that were banned by the Indian government in 2020 after a clash between troops of the two countries in the Galwan Valley along a contested border, called the Line of Actual Control.  

In response to the border tensions, the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology classified Shein, along with 59 other Chinese apps, as data security concerns. In addition to banning Chinese mobile apps, the Indian government increased scrutiny of Chinese investments and curtailed electronics imports from China. 

The news of Shein re-entering the Indian market comes as India and China take steps to restore ties. Last October, New Delhi and Beijing announced that they had reached an agreement to disengage along the Line of Actual Control, just ahead of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a notable bilateral meeting. 

Shein, a Chinese e-commerce company founded in 2008 and later registered in Singapore, is known for offering a wide range of affordable Western-style clothing. The app is now available as ‘SHEIN India Fast Fashion’ on the Apple App Store as well as Google Play Store. 

Although the Indian government had blocked Shein’s website, it was still possible for consumers to buy Shein products from other websites not covered by the ban. In fact, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal clarified in a written response to Parliament last December that the sale of Shein-branded products in India was not prohibited.