Zhu also gave the ages of the children Shein previously said it had found working at suppliers in 2023 as 15 years and 11 months, and 15 years and nine months.
In his letter, Zhu said one of the incidents had involved a child aged 11 years and eight months, whom the audit found had spent time during the summer holiday at a factory where her father was the general manager and her mother worked, and “helped with tasks”.
Aside from concerns about working conditions in the supply chain, the business is facing difficulties in the US, where Donald Trump’s administration is poised to remove the $800 “de minimis” rule which has helped Shein post goods to shoppers without import tax.
Shein has faced allegations of worker abuses in its supply chain, and the cross-party business and trade committee questioned Zhu in person in January, following up with letters asking for additional information.
Zhu refused to reassure the committee at the hearing that Shein’s products did not include cotton produced in the Xinjiang region of China, which has been linked to forced Uyghur labour, prompting one MP to accuse him of “wilful ignorance”.
