Chinese fashion retailer Shein and Reliance Retail plan to sell India-made clothing under the ‘Shein’ brand within a year, it has been officially announced.

The company, which originated in China but is now based in Singapore, had initiated discussions with Reliance Retail before the United States imposed tariffs on Chinese imports.

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Shein offers affordable clothing, including $5 dresses and $10 jeans, directly shipping from 7,000 Chinese suppliers to consumers across 150 countries. The company’s primary market remains the United States, where it is adapting to new tariffs on low value e-commerce shipments from China, which used to enter the United States duty-free.

Shein and Reliance Retail plan to expand their Indian supplier base from the existing base of 150 suppliers to 1,000 suppliers in 12 months in order to cater to both Indian as well as global markets. Shein also plans to list India-made clothes on its US and British websites.

Significantly, Reliance’s retail arm has stated that it has signed contracts with 150 garment makers across India so far and is holding talks to get 400 more on board.

Shein had entered the Indian market in 2018, but within two years of operations, the government banned the app after border tensions between India and China.

After nearly five years of ban, the Chinese company re-entered India through a technology partnership with the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail.

Shein has licensed its brand for domestic use to Reliance’s retail arm, which has launched the Shein India website and sells Shein-branded clothing produced in India. Under the deal, Reliance is “responsible for manufacturing, supply chain, sales and operations in the Indian market”.

Shein’s re-entry to the Indian market was facilitated by the Commerce and Industry Ministry after the Chinese fast fashion retailer agreed to have no access to or rights over data.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had stated that Reliance Retail signed a technology agreement with Roadget Business to develop an Indian e-commerce retail platform. The platform would help Indian suppliers and manufacturers to produce and sell products under Shein’s brand name, it was stated.