Cosmetics firm Avon said that the company has recruited a team of some 300,000 licensed door-to-door sales persons in China this year and has complied with 95 percent of China's new direct sales rules.

Gao Shoukang, president of Avon China, said that the company has trained and certificated its direct sales agents.

According to Gao, the number of the company's licensed sales staff reached 299,568 nationwide by the end of October. Its network of some 6,000 boutiques in China shrank to 5,400, as it shifts to its more traditional business of door-to-door sales.

Gao said that Avon will use China Post to deliver its products.

In 1998 door-to-door sales of 10 foreign-backed direct selling companies were suspended in China while new regulations were developed. The deadline for application for approval under the new regulations passed on Dec. 1 with two companies being granted licenses. Only Avon, the world's biggest direct seller of beauty products, and For You, a manufacturer of health products have obtained licenses.

Gao said the company expect a 9 percent increase in revenue this year.

Direct selling giants such as Amway, Mary Kay, and Perfect are waiting for final approval of their direct selling businesses in China.

The major difficulty for the unlicensed firms is that their sales plans resemble pyramid schemes in which one sales person relies mainly on recruiting other sales people, who have to recruit other salespeople.

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2006)