Vietnam Government Warns Unregistered Operations of Zhongtemu: "Blocked if Not Registered"

Temu, Focuses on Vietnamese Market After Setback in Indonesian Expansion

The Vietnamese government has warned the Chinese e-commerce platform Temu that it will block access if it does not comply with the law requiring registration with authorities.

According to local media VN Express on the 29th (local time), the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade recently told Temu that it must follow the law to register with authorities in order to operate in Vietnam, and otherwise, access to Temu will be blocked.

Under Vietnamese law, e-commerce platforms that have a domain in Vietnam, display homepage content in Vietnamese, or conduct more than 100,000 transactions annually in Vietnam must register with the government. Temu has allowed Vietnamese consumers to shop on its homepage since last month but has not yet registered with Vietnamese authorities.

The media reported, "Temu is focusing on the Vietnamese market recently after its entry into Indonesia was blocked due to the Indonesian government's strong opposition policy, concerned about damage to local small and medium enterprises."

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade urged consumers to be cautious when shopping online on platforms that are not registered with authorities. Earlier, Ho Duc Phoc, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, stated that Temu should pay taxes like Google and Facebook.

Recently, Chinese companies such as Temu, Shein, and Alibaba-affiliated Taobao have been selling products similar to those of local Vietnamese manufacturers at lower prices and even offering free shipping. Vietnamese local coffee producer 'Meet More,' which has so far sold products only on Vietnamese e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, told VN Express, "We are lowering prices to compete with Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu," adding, "This means our profits are disappearing."