Beijing is also holding talks with French companies over whether they received subsidies that may have partly benefited their Chinese operations
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenEmma Main ShanghaiPublished: 6:12pm, 10 Sep 2026China’s Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) said on Thursday it had held talks with French companies operating in China and reiterated calls for France to stop using its “anti-fast fashion law” to undermine the rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
According to ministry spokesperson Huang Ling, public reports suggested some French companies had received subsidies from the European Union and its member states, and that this support might have been “partly passed through to their Chinese-based entities”.
The discussions with French companies were aimed at “seeking information and requesting explanations” to “assess the impact”, Huang noted.
The law uses “plainly targeted standards and parameters to discriminate against and suppress Chinese cross-border e-commerce operators. The rules would severely distort fair competition”, Huang said.
Under the French legislation, clothing qualifies as “ultra-fast fashion” based on two criteria: the volume of clothing placed on the market and garment repair costs relative to the retail price.
