Chinese online retailer Temu suspended in Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has suspended operations of Chinese online retailer Temu after it failed to meet a government deadline to register the business by the end of November.

It is not yet clear whether Temu, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, will be allowed to resume operations once registered. The suspension comes after the ministry expressed concerns about the authenticity of Temu’s extremely cheap products and their impact on Vietnamese manufacturers.

Temu said on Thursday that it was working with the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to register its e-commerce services and had submitted the required documents.

Temu started selling products in Vietnam in October with aggressive discounts and free shipping. The government had warned the company that its app and website would be blocked if it did not register by the end-of-November deadline, Vietnam’s official news agency cited the Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying. .

On Thursday, Vietnamese language options were removed from Temu’s website. A notification on the site said Temu was working “with the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to register its provision of e-commerce services in Vietnam.”

Temu is investigation in Europe, suspected of having failed to prevent the sale of illegal products.