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Shein has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in Hong Kong as the online fast-fashion retailer seeks to accelerate a drawn-out listing process and pressure the UK regulator into approving a London listing.
The Singapore-based company, which was founded in China, privately filed a draft prospectus last week with Hong Kong’s exchange (HKEX) and sought the blessing of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Shein, which retains the vast majority of its supply chain in China, filed for a London initial public offering about 18 months ago, but has been unable to secure regulatory approval.
UK and Chinese regulators failed to agree on appropriate language to be used in the risk disclosure section of its prospectus. The differences related particularly to Shein’s supply chain exposure to the politically sensitive Xinjiang region, where China has been accused of human rights abuses against the indigenous Uyghur population.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority approved a version of Shein’s prospectus earlier this year, but it was not accepted by the CSRC. In recent years, the Beijing-based regulator has become stricter on how companies describe the risks associated with operating businesses in China, according to the people.
Shein has filed to float in Hong Kong in part to try to pressure the UK regulator into compromising on its risk disclosure requirements and keep alive what could be the biggest IPO on the London market in years, according to the people. Fundraising from IPOs in London has sunk to a 30-year low in 2025.
If the FCA is willing to accept a CSRC-approved prospectus, London would still be Shein’s preferred exchange, given its more diverse and international investor base, the people said. They added that the chances were slim, given that the regulators’ requirements were still wide apart.
In January Liam Byrne, chair of the UK’s House of Commons business and trade select committee, wrote to the head of the FCA to express doubts over the integrity of Shein’s supply chain, after a senior Shein employee refused to answer questions over whether its clothes contained cotton sourced from Xinjiang.
HKEX is expected to take a more tolerant view than London on how Chinese companies describe political risks, and Beijing is encouraging companies seeking to list overseas to prioritise Hong Kong over New York or London.
Even if HKEX and the CSRC give the nod to Shein’s IPO prospectus and a Hong Kong listing, the FCA would still have an opportunity to approve a London IPO based on it. A dual or secondary listing could be considered if the UK regulator were to give a green light at that point, according to one of the people.
Shein’s IPO saga, which has been ongoing for almost three years, has been caught in geopolitical crossfire.
While the retailer has about $12bn in cash on its balance sheet and is in no hurry to float, its investors and advisers are urging the company to accelerate a process that first ran into trouble when Shein failed to win approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023, the people said.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have been the lead banks working on the offering, from New York to London and now Hong Kong. Investment banks are typically paid after an IPO is completed. All three banks declined to comment.
A slump in profits last year has also raised doubts about whether a Shein IPO would achieve the $66bn valuation it reached privately two years ago.
In 2024, sales rose 19 per cent to $38bn, but net profit declined almost 40 per cent to $1bn, the Financial Times reported in February.
However, US sales, accounting for around a third of revenues, have not been hit as hard as initially feared this year by an end to tariff exemptions, according to people with knowledge of the company’s financials. They said Shein’s profitability has improved significantly since its rival Temu largely withdrew from the US fast fashion market because of increased tariffs.
HKEX, the FCA and Shein all declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Arjun Neil Alim and Cheng Leng in Hong Kong, Martin Arnold, Laura Onita and Arash Massoudi in London.
