Zara photo: VCG

A Chinese affiliate of Spanish fast-fashion retailer Zara has been slapped with a fine of 7,076.81 yuan ($1,098.66) for production and sales of unqualified items, Chinese news site Jiemian.com reported Wednesday.

The market regulator in Shanghai's downtown Jing'an district imposed the penalty on April 28 as Zara's Shanghai affiliate was found to have made and sold unqualified items, according to the report, citing Chinese corporate database query platform Tianyancha.

The Shanghai firm's illegal gains of 1,231.03 yuan were also confiscated. It was not the first time that the affiliate, founded in October 2005, has been hit with administrative penalties. The latest fine adds to five previous penalties dating back to October 2017 for various violations including failure to comply with rules that require selling at expressly marked prices, according to Tianyancha.

The Spanish fashion brand is among Western retailers including Nike and Adidas that have been facing a backlash in the Chinese market over their bans on using Xinjiang cotton. Zara's parent company Inditex initially released a statement citing "zero tolerance for forced labor" on its official website before removing the statement later on. 

Global Times