A man walks before a Hermes store in Beijing. Photo: VCG

Hermes China Co Ltd was fined 305,100 yuan ($43,130) with 57,342.3 yuan in income confiscated, in addition to the removal of illegal property, media reported citing notice from Beijing Municipal Administration of Market Supervision. 

According to a notice issued by the administration, imported men's clothing for sale at a Beijing branch of Hermes China Co Ltd registered in Shanghai was found to be in violation of Article 39 of the Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China, which requires sellers to never mix impurities or imitations into products, or substitute a fake product for a genuine one, a defective product for a high-quality one, or pass a substandard product off as an up-to-standard one.
 
The non-compliant batch of men's knitwear was imported through customs at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on June 24, 2022, the shipment included a total of six pieces. The purchase price of the products was $738 per piece with a subsequent sales price of 16,950 yuan per piece. Five of the six imported shirts have been sold, with one kept as a reserve sample, with no remaining inventory.
 
The average import tariff price per shirt was 261.03 yuan, with a profit of 11,670.86 yuan per item. The total value of the goods was equal to 101,700 yuan, with Hermes Co deriving 58,354.3 yuan of income, according to the market supervision authorities.
 
According to Article 50 of the Product Quality Law, the company was fined 305,100 yuan  with 57,342.3 yuan in income confiscated, in addition to the removal of illegal property. 

This is not the first time that Hermes has been punished by market regulators.
 
In June 2022, Hermes was fined for the sale of sub-quality ladies' pants. According to an official notice, the average import price of each pair of pants was 7,296.8 yuan, while the sales price was 22,600 yuan each. On that occasion, Hermes was fined 400,000 yuan with 61,326.75 yuan in illegal sales income confiscated.
 
In April, Hermes reopened its first-ever store in the Chinese mainland after renovation and expansion, located in Beijing's city center. The company said that the redesign shows its "confidence in the Chinese market and its dynamic capital city." The brand also plans to open a new store in a new Chinese city on a yearly basis, according to one of its senior executives in April, based on reporting by AFP.
 
Global Times