Is Shein ethical?
Shein performs poorly almost across the board – facing major criticisms over dangerous working hours at its factories, child labour, enormous carbon emissions and aggressive tax avoidance. Below we outline some of these issues.
Below we outline some of these issues. To see the full detailed stories, and Shein's overall ethical rating, please sign in or subscribe.
Shein has a poor record on workers' welfare
When it comes to workers making its clothing, Shein performs badly in terms of both policies and practices.
When Shein was rated in August 2026, it was found to have a supply chain policy in place covering some basic criteria like no child labour. However, the policy overlooked important factors like paying the living wage and limiting the number of hours employees are expected to work to under 48 a week.
In August 2024, Shein publicly stated that it had found two cases of child labour in its supply chain the previous year. The company stated that it had temporarily suspended orders from the suppliers involved, and had resumed sourcing from them once they had made efforts to tackle the problem.
Civil society groups have repeatedly accused Shein of other abuses in its supply chain. In November 2021, for example, investigative outlet Public Eye published a report, which found that workers in China supplying Shein were working 75 hour weeks – which violated the country’s laws.
Three years later, in May 2024, Public Eye published a follow-up report, which stated that abuses were ongoing. The group accused Shein of using a highly-flexible workforce, which included over 1,000 contractors, to produce its garments at extremely low costs, thereby eroding conditions in the supply chain. The BBC also reported on this story in 2025, exploring ‘the truth’ behind a typical $12 dress sold by Shein.
Cotton and Uyghur forced labour
Shein has faced accusations that its products contain cotton from the Uyghur Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. State-sanctioned forced labour is routinely used in cotton harvesting and processing in the Xinjiang region, as part of the Chinese government’s suppression of the Uyghur Muslim ethnic group. Clothing companies have therefore been urged to cease sourcing from the region.
In November 2022, Bloomberg published an investigation titled ‘Shein’s Cotton Tied to Chinese Region Accused of Forced Labor’. It stated, “A US attempt to ban imports of cotton linked to forced labor in China contains a loophole large enough for a multibillion-dollar business to pass through: clothing from Shein, the Chinese online retail giant and social-media phenomenon that ships fast-fashion apparel directly to consumers.
“Laboratory testing conducted for Bloomberg News on two occasions this year found that garments shipped to the US by Shein were made with cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.”
In January 2025, the Guardian reported that a lawyer for Shein, which was seeking to float on the London Stock Exchange, had said she could not answer questions from MPs on the business and trade committee about “whether Shein’s manufacturers – none of which the company owns directly – used the controversial yarn or whether any of them were based in the Xinjiang region”.
Shein's poor environmental rating
Shein scores 0/100 in Ethical Consumer’s climate rating.
In October 2026, Ethical Consumer looked at measures that Shein was taking to reduce its emissions. Although the company group had now set targets for reducing its climate impacts in line with vital international goals, its reporting indicated that its total Scope 3 emissions had risen by 20.3% since 2023.
In January 2023, TIME magazine criticised Shein and stated, "the company leaves about 6.3 million tons of carbon dioxide a year in its trail — a number that falls well below the 45% target to reduce global carbon emissions by 2030, which the U.N. has said is necessary for fashion companies to implement to help limit global warming."
The website Earth.org also reported in 2025 that "The rapidly-growing Chinese giant recently ranked among the worst fast fashion companies for emissions reduction and sustainability efforts and as the top polluting retailer. Fast fashion retail giant Shein’s carbon footprint increased significantly in 2024, according to the company’s sustainability report."
Shein's animal welfare policy lacks detail
The company sells a range of animal products that are not covered by policies to prevent the worst welfare outcomes for the animals involved. For example, it sells products containing leather and mohair, without relevant animal welfare policies in place.
In its overarching animal welfare policy, Shein does not state what proportion of animal products used are actually certified by any of the listed standards. Other statements in the policy are vague and do not set clear criteria. For example, it states that it expects suppliers to “Work to align with our values of animal welfare”, but does not make clear whether this is a binding criteria.
Shein and tax
Shein lacks transparency when it comes to financial ethics, for example failing to disclose its directors’ pay.
The company scores very badly for its tax conduct rating. Its owner is registered in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven, and Shein has been criticised by third parties for alleged tax avoidance.
The financial news site This Is Money stated in October 2021, “Chinese fashion giant Shein is exploiting tax perks to undercut Britain's online retailers”. And the clothing news site Fashion Network reported in July 2023, “A US parliamentary report has condemned Shein and Temu for exploiting a customs loophole to evade taxes and human rights controls”.
In September 2025 the Guardian reported that Shein "paid just £9.6m in corporation tax despite taking £2bn in sales last year [...] 'Very little surplus is left in the UK to be subject to corporate income tax,' Paul Monaghan, the chief executive of the Fair Tax Foundation, said."