H&M fined over $40,000 for ‘misleading’ clients in China

The officials revealed that the investigation into the matter began in February 2021

File image: H&M store in central Stockholm (Getty Images)

Fashion giant H&M has been fined 260,000 yuan (US$40,200) in China for “misleading customers” in one of its advertisements.

As per the market regulation administration in Shanghai, the Swedish multinational clothing retail company duped its customers with advertisements that claimed that the featured products are only available in China.

The officials revealed that the investigation into the matter began in February 2021.

According to theSouth China Morning Post, the authorities have also confiscated 30,000 yuan ($4,638) worth of “illegal income earned from selling substandard products.”

The regulator ordered the company to stop creating and selling items that don’t meet the quality guidelines.

The Independent has reached out to H&M for a comment on the matter.

This isn’t the first time the fast-fashion company has come under fire in China this year. In April, H&M agreed to change a “problematic map” online following government criticism in China.

File image: H&M clothing store in the French northern city of Lille (AFP via Getty Images)

The ruling Communist Party lashed out at H&M, Nike, and other shoe and clothing brands after the US, the European Union, Britain, and Canada imposed travel and financial sanctions on officials accused of abuses in Xinjiang in China’s northwest.

The city government said: “Internet users reported to the management of H&M’s website that there existed a ‘problematic map of China,’ and the Shanghai municipal bureau of planning and natural resources ordered it to be quickly corrected.”

H&M managers “corrected the error as soon as possible” after being summoned to meet with regulators, it said on the company’s social media account.