中国批准雅芳恢复直销

China clears Avon to resume direct sales

China’s government has authorised Avon Products, the world’s largest door-to-door cosmetics distributor, to resume direct sales operations, a move likely to pave the way for other well-known direct sellers to do business in the country.


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Since Beijing banned direct selling in 1998 after a rash of pyramid schemes, Avon had relied on thousands of retail outlets throughout the mainland to sell its beauty products.


However, the government last year allowed the New York-based group to resume direct selling in Beijing, Tianjin and Guangdong under a pilot programme. According to the Ministry of Commerce, final approval was granted to Avon last week to receive a formal licence, although a company representative said on Monday that the company had yet to receive any official notice from regulators.


Beijing’s willingness to allow Avon to expand its direct sales network suggests it may start permitting other multinational direct sellers to operate with greater leeway in China, albeit under strict rules.


US trade officials and corporate executives have lobbied Beijing to open its direct selling sector more quickly. China’s government has been worried that allowing direct sellers to operate too freely in the country would also allow illegitimate sales schemes to emerge.


Since 1998, a few foreign-invested direct sales companies have been allowed to continue their business in China but have mainly relied on stores for sales. Last December, Beijing put into effect a detailed set of direct sales regulations that outlined minimum capital requirements, business experience standards and penalties for violators.


Other global direct sellers with investments in China are eager to expand their direct, or person-to-person, selling networks in the country. Avon, which estimates it has about 5m independent sales representatives around the world, is on a recruiting drive in China.


One person who participated in an Avon hiring session last year said training supervisors there covered local laws and regulations, even on seemingly unrelated topics such as China’s anti-secession law. China is expected to be a key part of Avon’s worldwide business. Chairman Andrea Jung recently said China was among a handful of nations where the company planned significantly to boost advertising expenditures.
中国批准雅芳恢复直销

中国政府已批准世界最大的化妆品直销商雅芳(Avon Products)恢复直销业务，此举可能为其它著名直销商在华开展业务铺平道路。

1998年中国突然出现大量传销，之后中国政府禁止了传销。自那以来，雅芳依靠遍布中国大陆的零售点销售其美容产品。

但政府去年允许这家总部在纽约的集团恢复在北京、天津和广东进行直销，以此作为一个试点。据中国商务部称，上周政府给了雅芳最终批准，让该集团得到了一张正式执照，但一位公司代表昨天表示，公司还未收到监管机构的任何正式通知。


中国政府愿意允许雅芳扩张其直销网络表明，政府可能开始准许其它跨国直销商在中国有更大的活动空间，尽管这要服从严格的规定。

雅芳获中国直销牌照 China Approves Avon Direct Sales In Step That Ends an 8-Year Ban

BEIJING -- After an eight-year absence, Avon ladies can start calling again all over China, Asia's fastest-growing cosmetics market.

A senior Chinese official said yesterday that authorities had given Avon Products Inc. the green light to resume direct sales to homes across China. The sales method had been banned by Chinese authorities since 1998, ostensibly from fear of the economic disruption caused by dozens of failed domestic pyramid schemes.

Beijing began easing regulations on direct sales last year as part of its obligations under the World Trade Organization. In April, for example, Avon was given permission to carry out a trial direct-sales program in three major cities: Beijing, Tianjin and Guangdong. The opening was something Avon and other direct-sales specialists like Amway Corp. had been fighting for.

Now the company, based in New York, will have official permission to expand those sales across the nation, according to the official and a brief notice posted on China's Ministry of Commerce Web site. Avon officials in China declined to comment, saying the company hadn't received official notice about the change.

Since the restrictions were imposed, Avon has been forced to sell its products through stores instead of bringing them to customers' doors, a sales method that Avon helped pioneer and at which it excels.

Out of its element, Avon was forced to compete in China with companies more experienced in traditional store sales, such as Japan's Shiseido Co., and France's L'Oreal SA, for a piece of the fastest-growing cosmetics market in Asia.

Figures on the size of China's cosmetics market vary, depending on the definition of cosmetics -- some exclude fragrance, for example -- but estimates range roughly from 60 billion to 85 billion yuan, or about $7.5 billion to $10.5 billion, annually.

According to trade group China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetic Industries, China's total sales of cosmetics in 2004 reached nearly 85 billion yuan, up 13% from a year earlier, making it Asia's second-largest market, after Japan, and eighth in the world.

Li & Fung Research Center, based in Hong Kong, estimates cosmetics sales in China will reach 100 billion yuan by 2010.

Avon badly needs strong growth in developing markets such as China and Russia to bolster a painful restructuring that began last year, involving massive cost-cutting, and a 37% drop in fourth-quarter earnings to $183.2 million. Avon has stepped up spending on global ads to freshen its staid image. In midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, Avon was at $29, off 2.5% from Friday, but down 36% from a 52-week high of $45.02 reached last April.

In December the company bought out its local partner in China and said its Chinese operations would henceforth be managed as a stand-alone business unit. Avon says it will start reporting earnings in China separately, beginning with this year's first quarter.

Avon has said it intends to maintain a mix of shops and direct sales in China, although industry watchers question if this will set up internal rivalries, with direct sellers undercutting store sales. Already, its Chinese sales plunged 22% in last year's third quarter because boutique owners placed fewer orders in anticipation of Avon's switch to direct selling.

Despite Beijing's green light, Avon will still be restricted by China's new rules on direct sales: Unlike in most other places, agents can't recruit new salespeople, from whom agents typically collect royalties. Also, agent commissions will be lower than elsewhere.
雅芳获中国直销牌照



时隔8年之后，雅芳(Avon Products Inc.)的直销员又可以在中国这个亚洲发展最快的市场合法从事经营了。

中国一位高级官员周一表示，有关当局已经允许雅芳重新在中国开展直销业务。1998年以来，直销遭到中国政府的禁止，理由是担心国内数十起传销欺诈案会破坏经济的正常运转。

为了履行加入世界贸易组织(World Trade Organization)时的承诺，北京于去年开始放宽对直销的管制。例如，去年4月份，雅芳获准在北京、天津和广东展开直销试点经营。这次解禁是雅芳、安利(Amway Corp.)等直销企业一直希望看到的局面。

据这位官员和中国商务部网站的一个简短通知透露，总部位于纽约的雅芳获准在整个中国从事直销业务。雅芳驻中国的管理人士拒绝发表评论，只表示公司尚未接到正式的通知。

自从直销在中国遭禁以来，雅芳只被允许通过店铺销售、而不是上门推销的方式出售其产品。雅芳既是后一种销售方式的倡导者，也是其中的佼佼者。

但为了在中国这个亚洲发展最快的化妆品市场上分得一杯羹，雅芳不得不“扬短弃长”，与日本的资生堂(Shiseido Co.)、法国的欧莱雅(L'Oreal SA)等擅长传统店铺销售的竞争对手展开交锋。

有关中国化妆品市场的规模存在一定分歧，因为这要看怎样界定化妆品这个市场，像化妆品中是否包含香水等。不过，中国化妆品市场的年销售额估计在人民币600亿-850亿元，合75亿-105亿美元。

中国香料香精化妆品工业协会(China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetic Industries)的数据显示，2004年中国化妆品销售额接近人民币850亿元，比上年增长了13%，在亚洲排名第二，仅次于日本，在全球排名第八。

香港Li & Fung Research Center预测，到2010年时，中国化妆品的销售额将达到人民币1,000亿元。

雅芳急切渴望在中国、俄罗斯等发展中国家获得强劲增长，籍此来缓解重组举措带来的阵痛。始于去年的重组进行了大规模的成本削减，但导致第四财政季度利润缩水37%，至1.832亿美元。雅芳现已加大了在全球范围内的广告投入，以期重振自己的品牌形象。

去年12月，雅芳从合伙人手中买断全部股份，全盘接管中国业务，并表示将把中国业务作为一个独立的子公司对待。雅芳还表示，将从今年第一季度起把中国业务的业绩单独披露。

雅芳表示，中国业务准备同时保留店铺销售和直销两种方式，尽管业内观察人士认为这样做会造成内部倾轧的局面，即直销业务将削弱店铺销售业务。去年第三季度，雅芳中国业务销售额下降了22%，原因是预见到雅芳将重新启动直销业务的店铺所有者发出的订单减少。

尽管中国政府给雅芳开了绿灯，但中国直销法规仍将束缚雅芳的手脚。与大多数地区不同的是，雅芳在中国的直销员不能发展下一层的销售人员，而通常直销员都要从下层的销售人员抽取佣金。另外，直销员获得的佣金也低于其他地区。