Temu told to suspend Vietnam operations, state media reports

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 reported on Thursday.

Temu, owned by Chinese e-commerce 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 Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying.

“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.

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

“Temu is 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,” a notification on the website said.

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

The trade 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.

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Vietnam’s parliament last week approved changes to a tax law to require local operators of foreign e-commerce 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 e-commerce industry, which has benefited from VAT exemption and rules in place since 2010 that stipulate imported goods worth under 1 million dong (S$54) are free from duties. REUTERS