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  • March 15, 2025
Temu: Temu and Shein suspend operations in Vietnam amid crackdown on e-commerce platforms

Temu: Temu and Shein suspend operations in Vietnam amid crackdown on e-commerce platforms

Chinese online retailers Temu and Shein have suspended their operations in Vietnam while the companies work to register their e-commerce services with the Southeast Asian country’s authorities, the two companies said Thursday.

The Vietnamese government and domestic companies have raised concerns about the impact of deep discounting by Chinese online platforms, with the Ministry of Commerce saying it is also concerned about the potential sale of counterfeits.

Last month, Vietnam told Shein and Temu to register with the government by the end of November or face internet domain blocking and a halt to the use of their apps.

Temu, owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, started allowing shoppers from Vietnam in October, while fast fashion retailer Shein has been selling in Vietnam for at least two years.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday it had ordered Temu to suspend its operations in the country after missing the deadline for company registration.


“Temu’s operations will be temporarily suspended until the registration procedure is completed,” the ministry said in a statement.

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“The platform has submitted an application for e-commerce service operations in Vietnam, which is being assessed by the authorities.” The ministry did not say how long the suspension would last, nor what steps Temu must take before it is lifted.

On Thursday, Vietnamese language options were missing from Temu’s website when accessing from Vietnam.

“Temu is cooperating with the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to register its provision of e-commerce services in Vietnam,” the company said in a notice on its website.

In response to an emailed request for comment from Reuters, Temu said it had submitted all documents needed for the registration, but did not provide a timetable for resuming operations.

It is not clear whether authorities have also halted Shein’s operations, but the Vietnamese website was unavailable. The company said it was working with the Ministry of Commerce to register services.

“Shein is committed to complying with the laws and regulations of the countries in which we operate,” Shein said in an emailed statement, adding that while the Vietnamese website was temporarily unavailable, customers in Vietnam were still on the international platform for shopping.

The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Temu has also run into Indonesia, where regulators have asked Alphabet’s Google and Apple to block it from app stores in the country to protect small sellers.

Last week, Vietnam’s parliament approved legislative amendments to require the payment of value-added tax (VAT) by local operators of foreign e-commerce platforms, and pushed for the abolition of a tax exemption for cheap imported goods.

The Treasury Department said at the time that it had begun a process to eliminate the tax break.

The change is a blow to the foreign-dominated e-commerce industry, which since 2010 has benefited from a VAT exemption and rules that allow it to avoid duties on imports worth less than 1 million dong ($40).