Not true. That is actually exactly how much it costs for factories to produce those products AND make a profit on top. Anyone with experience sourcing from China knows that the wholesale cost of most lifestyle items are between £0.10-£5. You can go on Alibaba and get quotes for yourself if you don't believe it. None of the Temu products are custom-made or branded which means they can be created in an absolutely massive MOQ (minimum order quantity), the price gets pushed even lower. The factory pricing is nothing new and has been this way for the past 20-30 years. The only difference is that Temu/Shein/Aliexpress has giving everyday consumers access to small units of those products for the first time.
You are being taken for a mug if you believe that paying £10 for the same product from ASDA or Amazon is making a difference. By all means do so if you can afford it. But bear in mind that extra £9 you decide to spend out of moral righteousness is simply a markup that a company CEO decided on so he can pay for his Mercedes. You are funding those fat cats who are making arbitrary profits in the UK and driving the COL even higher. Those are the people who aren't affected by price increases and thus the government or other retailers have less incentive to do anything about it. If they start losing their business due to people switching to Temu then there might actually be changes in pricing close to home.
I worked in UK retail (sourcing and production) for a while and it was a true eye opener. The vast majority of companies and trendy brands get their products made in China. The quality was amazing in some cases, it all depends on which factory you choose. Some factories are sloppy and produce the typical crappy plastic tat that break after a few uses. Other manufacturers have great attention to detail and project managers who speak perfect english.
Incidentally, there are lots of people here who want to believe that Chinese factories are full of children to justify their own moral high-ground tinged with racism. Sorry to disappoint you but that's not the case. All the places in Shenzhen are absolutely normal production facilities with staff who choose to be there. Doing business with western companies is the backbone of their business model and they are open all year round for visitations (we went as well). Going by MN logic, they will have to maintain hidden warehouses with little kids making the products, along with a fake showroom of the same machinery and products to show inspectors and western contractors. This is laughable and unfeasible on so many levels. Similarly, if word got out that one factory is using child labour, you can bet your arse that they will immediately get reported to the authorities or media by a competitor who wants their contracts. Chinese factories are not in some conspiracy collusion to hide child labour from the West...they are in direct competition with each other and would love the chance to snitch one of their own if it meant a business advantage.
The pay and working conditions for factory workers are obviously not amazing, but neither is that of minimum wage jobs all over the world. However since China doesn't suffer from the COL crisis, the quality of life in relation to salary for many factory workers are arguably better than someone on a very lowly paid job in the UK. The factory to consumer business model is hugely popular within China as well. Temu is based on the app Taobao which is massive in Asia. So each factory has their own creative teams creating content and marketing the products over social media. It's really less shocking and scandalous than many people in the West want to believe.