H&M’s flagship store on Huaihai road, Shanghai on April 3, 2020 Photo: VCG

Swedish clothing company H&M Hennes & Mauritz (Shanghai) Commercial Co received a fine from a court in Huangpu district in Shanghai recently for selling defective products, according to company information provider Qichacha. 

The judgment from the court stated that H&M had sold a series of defective products below the regulation standards in multiple cities in China from June 2022 to February. H&M will be fined 319,192 yuan in total according to the judgment, and illegal income of 160,454.8 yuan will be confiscated. 

H&M has received 18 administrative penalties since April 2020. It has been fined 1.87 million yuan in total for various reasons including selling defective products, false advertising and unchecked fire extinguisher systems, according to Qichacha. 

H&M came under the spotlight in 2021 when the company said it was deeply concerned about reports of forced labor and discrimination against ethno-religious minorities in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions, which triggered Chinese people’s anger. 

According to media reports, H&M closed its flagship store in China in June 2022, which was its first store in the Chinese market. As of June 2022, the company has 362 stores in China, down from 445 in November 2021 and 505 a year earlier.