Hanoi tells Chinese online retailer Temu to suspend Vietnam operations


The report did not say how long the suspension would be, or what Temu needed to do to have it lifted. — Reuters

HANOI: Chinese online retailer Temu has been told to suspend its operations in Vietnam after it failed to meet an end-November deadline for business registration in the South-East Asian country, Vietnamese state media reports.

Temu, owned by Chinese eCommerce giant PDD Holdings , began offering its services in Vietnam in October. It had been required to register with the government, or access to its Internet domains and apps would be blocked in the country.

“Temu hadn’t completed its registration procedures by the end-November deadline,” Vietnam News Agency cited the Industry and Trade Ministry as saying yesterday. “Therefore, the competent authority has requested that Temu temporarily suspend operations in the country.”

The report did not say how long the suspension would be, or what Temu needed to do to have it lifted.

Yesterday, Vietnamese language options had been removed from Temu’s website when it was accessed from Vietnam.

“Temu is working with the Vietnam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency and the Industry and Trade Ministry to register its provision of eCommerce services in Vietnam,” a notification on the website said.

Temu and parent company PDD Holdings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ministry and local businesses have expressed concern about the impact of Chinese online platforms on local markets due to deep discounting.

The ministry has also said it is worried about the potential sale of counterfeit items.

Vietnam’s parliament last week approved changes to a tax law to require local operators of foreign eCommerce platforms to pay value-added tax (VAT), and called on the government to scrap a tax exemption for low-cost imported goods.

The move by legislators will be a blow to the foreign-dominated eCommerce industry, which has benefited from VAT exemption and rules in place since 2010 that stipulate imported goods worth under one million dong or about US$40 are free from duties. — Reuters

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