French Government begins procedure to suspend Shein platform

Chinese E-commerce giant Shein faces another set back as French Ministry of Finance initiates a procedure to suspend its platform in France until it can demonstrate compliance with the country's laws.

The move which was announced on Wednesday, comes at a crucial time for Shein which opened its first physical store at BHV department store in Paris, with plans to open five more in other parts of France later in the month. 

Several French brands including Aime, Agnes B have said they would be vacating the BHV in protest.  

Mathilde Lacombe, co-founder of Aime spoke to BFM TV announcing her departure from the Parisian store.

"We have made it clear that we want to leave; our decision is firm and final. We built our brand on strong values, and it's important to have partners who share those values.

By staying, we would feel like we were endorsing what Shein is doing, so we refuse and are therefore leaving," she said. 

Shein's store opening has been marred by an investigation by French authorities over childlike sex dolls found on its online platform by consumer watchdog.

Shein has said it removed such third party vendors from its site and was fully cooperating with the authorities who are also investigating Temu, AliExpress and Wish. 

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