Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein has been accused of “wilful ignorance” during a Business and Trade Committee evidence session about supply chain labour rights.

On Tuesday, the Committee questioned representatives from Shein and fellow Chinese company Temu, as well as McDonalds and Tesco, as part of a wider inquiry examining the government's employment rights bill and measures to prevent the import of goods produced under poor labour conditions.

During the meeting, Yinan Zhu, Shein’s general counsel for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) was accused of avoiding answering basic questions about the company’s supply chain.

The comments came after Zhu was asked several times whether Shein’s products include cotton sourced from China or the Xinjiang region, which she did not answer directly during the session.

She instead told the Committee that Shein complies with the laws and regulations wherever it does business around the world, adding that the retailer has a supplier code of conduct; robust systems, procedures and policies; and “very strong” enforcement measures.

Chairman of the Committee Liam Byrne described Zhu's responses as "unhelpful and disrespectful" after suggesting that while she was willing to speak about operations in South West China, she would not "mention Xinjiang at all".

"It's wilful ignorance and I'm asking you whether you think you are being disrespectful by being so blanketly void of answers," he said to the Shein representative.

The meeting comes after the government recently said that it will continue to "stand firm" on human rights where China continues to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

In December, minister for trade policy Douglas Alexander said that the government expects UK businesses to undertake due diligence so that human rights and environmental issues are considered in their operations and supply chain relationships, in line with the OECD guidelines on responsible business conduct.

"I have to say for a company that sells a billion pounds [worth of products] to UK consumers and for a company which is seeking to float on the London Stock Exchange, the Committee has been pretty horrified by the lack of evidence that you have provided today,” said Byrne at the end of the evidence session. “You've given us almost zero confidence in the integrity of your supply chains.

"You can't even tell us what your products are made from. You can't tell us much about the conditions which workers have to work in and the reluctance to answer basic questions has, frankly bordered on contempt of the committee.”

The meeting will likely come as a blow to Shein, after the company last year announced its plans for a London IPO.

The business has also faced difficulties in the EU, as governments including Germany, France, and the Netherlands, have recently called for stricter enforcement of EU standards on online platforms, while also supporting an overhaul of EU import taxes that could impose import duty on cheap parcels that were previously tax-exempt.

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