Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion retailer, has publicly confirmed its plans to float on the stock market for the first time, with London believed to be the preferred location.

Donald Tang, the company's executive chairman, told The Times in an interview that Shein wanted to become a public company "to embrace the...accountability and transparency of being a public company".

The Singapore-based company is understood to have filed paperwork with the Financial Conduct Authority last summer for a London listing after plans to float in New York were rebuffed. However, Tang repeatedly declined to comment on the timing, valuation and destination of a listing.

"When you're doing anything like that, it's not us. It's about all the appropriate agencies who have the say...it will eventually become one [a public company] because of the scale and maturity," Tang said.

Shein's potential listing comes amid scrutiny from politicians and campaigners over labour practices and environmental impact. Tang rejected allegations that the company exploited workers and damaged the environment, saying Shein was "democratising" the mass global fashion industry.

The executive chairman said he "admired" UK regulators for "a clear sense of separation between politics and regulation". He also mentioned that Shein had become a member of the CBI, one of Britain's large business lobby organisations.

"We want to be a globalised company. In London, we want to be a British company. We want to be a British local company...we're registered here, we're paying taxes here, we want to be part of a community," Tang told The Times.

Shein, founded in 2012, was valued at $66 billion during its most recent funding round in 2023. Tang dismissed a recent report that Shein's global net profit fell almost 40 per cent to $1 billion last year amid competition from rival Temu as speculation.

The company faces challenges from President Trump's threats to clamp down on tariff-free imports of small goods from China to the United States, Shein's largest market. However, Tang played down concerns about Washington hitting its sales.

"We have a superior business model. We are about customers. We're not about customs policy," he said.

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