China’s securities regulator on Friday granted Shein the long-awaited approval to proceed with an initial public offering in Hong Kong, ending a year-long wait and clearing a path for a listing that had been blocked in New York and London. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published the decision on its website, confirming the online retailer may sell up to 341.6 million H shares. The move removes a major political uncertainty for the company, which had been awaiting a green light from the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter.

The approval follows two failed overseas attempts. Shein first filed for a US IPO in November 2023 but faced opposition from American lawmakers and regulators, who cited supply-chain and labour-practice concerns. It then turned to London, where Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority approved a draft prospectus, but the CSRC withheld its consent, effectively blocking the listing. Viewed from Beijing, the company is politically sensitive: controversies have included a childlike sex-doll scandal on its platform in France and reports of poor labour conditions at supplier factories in China. Although Shein moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2022, it remains subject to Chinese IPO rules because its products are predominantly manufactured by third-party suppliers on the mainland.

Shein’s valuation has fallen steeply from the $100 billion it commanded in 2022, when pandemic-driven online shopping was at its peak. A 2023 funding round valued it at $66 billion, and sources now indicate the company may target $40–50 billion in the Hong Kong offering, with some shareholders pressing for a figure as low as $30 billion. To compensate early investors for the decline, Shein is expected to provide funds for them to buy shares in the IPO. The company could sell up to 8 percent of its equity, though the final stake is likely to be smaller, raising a low-single-digit number of billions of dollars. Its backers include Brookfield, General Atlantic, SoftBank, Mubadala Investment, and Saudi Arabia’s PIF.

Analysts in Hong Kong interpret the CSRC’s decision as a signal that Beijing continues to support the city as a major offshore capital-raising platform, even as it maintains tight oversight of prominent entrepreneurs. The approval is seen as a selective reopening, rewarding companies that align with national economic priorities. Shein’s founder, Xu Yangtian, has publicly pledged greater resources to Guangdong province, home to the garment supply chain that underpins its rapid design-to-sale model. The company’s platform exports exceeded ¥100 billion in 2025, and it sells in around 150 countries, competing directly with Temu and AliExpress.

With regulatory approval in hand, Shein can now organise investor roadshows and prepare for its hearing with the Hong Kong stock exchange’s listing committee. A listing could take place as early as September or October, though no fixed timetable has been set and the process remains subject to further regulatory steps. The final valuation and the size of the offering will depend on investor appetite in a market where Hong Kong’s IPO activity has revived this year, with nearly $35 billion raised in new share sales.