The European Commission has carried out unannounced inspections at Chinese platform Temu, looking into suspicions of a breach under EU rules that combat the distortive effect of subsidies from foreign governments, MLex has learned.
The European Commission has carried out unannounced inspections at Chinese platform Temu, looking into suspicions of a breach under EU rules that combat the distortive effect of subsidies from foreign governments, MLex has learned. The raids are understood to have taken place last week, at least at one of Temu's premises in Ireland. Temu is an online marketplace launched by PDD Holdings — the parent company of Chinese enterprise Pinduoduo.
It offers products such as clothing, electronics and homeware online. Chinese platforms including Temu and Shein have attracted criticism in Europe for their pricing and sales tactics, which some claim unfairly undercut other platforms.
"We can confirm that the commission has carried out an unannounced inspection at the premises of a company active in the e-commerce sector in the EU, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation," a spokesperson for the commission said.
Temu didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Foreign Subsidies Regulation came into force in 2023 and is designed to curb the impact of companies that can undermine competition due to the help of governments from outside of the EU. It includes a power that enables officials to conduct dawn raids so they can seize data and information to advance an investigation.
The commission has previously conducted one set of raids under the FSR, targeting Nuctech, a Chinese-backed manufacturer of scanners. Nuctech subsequently turned to the EU courts to challenge the legitimacy of those inspections
* Updated on Dec. 10, 2025 at 14:39 GMT: Adds European Commission confirmation.
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