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R 270903Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 013383 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB, R, EAP/CM, EAP/PD, DRL 
STATE PASS USTR - STRATFORD, CELICO 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, DAS LEVINE 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD WTRO CH
SUBJECT: Direct Sales in South China: Still Waiting for the 
Day 
 
REF: 05 Guangzhou 23964 
 
(U) This message is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
handle accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: U.S. direct sales companies in Guangzhou 
are optimistic that the China market is once again becoming 
hospitable to them.  A new law issued in December 2005, and 
a batch of licenses expected for summer 2006, has brought 
direct selling out of the hybrid retail model in which it 
was forced to operate since 1998.  Nevertheless, companies 
will not be content until the government allows "real" 
direct selling, which to them means multi-level marketing. 
As it currently stands, companies are not permitted to 
implement the multi-level, team-based model that they use in 
most other countries.  The upcoming year will be a period of 
wait-and-see, as national and local regulators form a 
workable system.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoff spoke with Amway's Steven Cheng, chief 
financial officer for the greater China region; Nu Skin's Ky 
Eap, sales director for southern China; and Sunrider's 
Patrick Lam, director of art and communications for China, 
about the state of South China's direct sales industry. 
Avon, the only company to have a direct sales license at the 
moment, declined our request for a meeting. 
 
Background on Direct Sales and the Companies 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) China first opened the direct sales sector in the 
late 1980s.  A proliferation of pyramid schemes and 
fraudulent activity, largely by domestic entities, caused a 
public uproar in the late 1990s, leading the government to 
ban direct sales in 1998.  However, the government allowed 
ten large direct sales companies to continue to operate as 
"change mode companies," but required them to sell from 
retail outlets in fixed locations in what one representative 
described as a "hybrid system."  The government issued two 
key regulations on direct selling in 2005 and a new direct 
sales law in November 2005.  (This came late, as China 
agreed to open the direct sales sector by December 2004 in 
its WTO accession agreement.)  Avon received the first 
license to operate in February 2006.  Amway, Nu Skin, and 
Sunrider all expect to receive licenses this summer. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The aforementioned companies all sell personal care 
products and health supplements, and all of them manufacture 
in China.  Amway is the largest of the direct sellers, with 
RMB 17 billion (USB 2.1 billion) in sales in China in 2004. 
It has a presence in 150 cities in China.  Sunrider, a 
privately held company, has 14 branch offices in China.  The 
company has operations in 38 countries, but China accounts 
for 40 percent of its global sales.  Nu Skin, with 165 
retail stores in China, has approximately USD 150 million in 
annual sales here.  Avon, with whom we have met in the past, 
has 74 branch offices and had USD 220 million in sales in 
China in 2004. 
 
The 2005 Law: Still Not "Real" Direct Sales 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The most pressing concern for Amway, Nu Skin, and 
Sunrider is the requirement that companies use a single- 
level marketing (SLM) model.  In SLM, only sales agents 
receive commissions for their sales.  Multi-level marketing 
(MLM), by contrast, is characterized by earnings and bonuses 
trickling up from salespersons to their team leaders and 
supervisors.  According to Amway, Chinese law explicitly 
prohibits group remuneration for sales, which is the 
hallmark of MLM.  (Note: After reviewing the text of the 
December 2005 law, we cannot find wording that bans MLM. 
However, the accompanying "Regulation on Banning Pyramid 
Schemes," issued November 2005, includes text that 
explicitly prohibits sales commissions going to more than 
one person.  End note.) 
 
¶6. (SBU) China's reluctance to institute MLM apparently 
derives from its bad experience with pyramid schemes.  Amway 
 
GUANGZHOU 00013383  002 OF 003 
 
 
said this fear is unfounded, as the two systems are 
distinct.  A pyramid scheme is based upon the number of 
people recruited, and an agent's income depends on his 
ability to headhunt.  In legitimate MLM, on the other hand, 
commissions are generated from sale revenue, not 
recruitment.  Amway said 70-80 percent of directs sales 
companies worldwide use MLM.  Nu Skin has a presence in 43 
countries, and only in China do they not use MLM.  Sunrider 
said China "does not understand" MLM.  Cheng said that 
China's WTO agreement does not define direct sales as 
including MLM, thus authorities can now define it by the SLM 
model. 
 
Commission Cap 
-------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The 2005 law limits sales commissions to 30 
percent.  Sunrider and Nu Skin complained that the 30 
percent commission cap falls below the worldwide average, 
which industry observers have put at a little over 40 
percent.  Amway, however, said its average worldwide 
commissions fall between 30 and 35 percent, and does not 
view the cap as a problem. 
 
Service Centers and Branch Offices 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The 2005 direct sales law also requires that 
companies set up customer service centers in provinces in 
which they operate.  None of the representatives could 
explain exactly what constitutes a service center under the 
law.  Amway and Nu Skin said it may be as little as a 
person's residence.  Depending on the accepted definition, 
Nu Skin may end up with 1,000-2,000 service centers in 
China, many of which will also operate as retail stores. 
Amway has decided to provide a service function in all of 
its stores, and will not set up independent service centers. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In addition, the new law requires that a direct 
sales company have a branch office in every province in 
which it operates.  The role of branch offices is also not 
clear, but the representatives said they plan to use them as 
centers for distribution, training, and after-sales service. 
Sunrider said it is economically "not feasible" to open a 
branch office in every province in which it operates, and 
said the requirement will slow the growth of the industry. 
Amway, on the other hand, does not see the requirement as a 
burden, largely because of the company's sizable assets. 
 
Group Gatherings and Training 
----------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) All of the company representatives said China 
strictly enforces the requirement that large gatherings be 
approved beforehand by authorities.  The typical limit is 50 
people, though the number depends on whether the meetings 
are held at the provincial, municipal, or local levels. 
Recruitment drives or team-building events for direct sales 
companies can easily involve more than 50 people.  Amway 
said there is no way around the requirement, and they simply 
must be diligent in notifying Chinese authorities.  Nu Skin 
and Sunrider said they typically organize such events in the 
form of concerts in order to more easily alleviate 
government concerns. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In addition, the new law states that trainers must 
be employees of the company -- not consultants, as is the 
case in many other countries.  New sales agents also must 
take a government-administered exam before their first sale. 
According to Amway, these requirements allow Chinese 
authorities to regulate how a company recruits its sales 
agents and also what the agents are taught. 
 
Capitalization Requirement 
-------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) The new law attempts to limit the direct sales 
sector to large, established companies by setting a high 
entry threshold.  Under the law, to establish a direct sales 
 
GUANGZHOU 00013383  003 OF 003 
 
 
entity in China, a company must prove registered capital of 
at least RMB 80 million (USD 9.9 million) and pay a RMB 20 
million (USD 2.5 million) deposit.  None of the three 
companies expressed reservations about this requirement, 
since they all can easily overcome it.  Indeed, they even 
see it as beneficial, since it limits their competition.  Nu 
Skin said the high threshold prevents small and unscrupulous 
firms from entering the market and "getting in trouble." 
Nevertheless, by barring smaller firms, the requirement may 
unintentionally lead to illegal underground activity, 
including counterfeiting of legitimate products (reftel). 
 
A Transitional Period 
--------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) All of the companies described 2006 as a period of 
transition, during which China's regulators will clarify 
currently vague areas of the law through public 
announcements and selective enforcement.  According to 
Amway, the Chinese government will not begin enforcing the 
new law in earnest until the end of 2006.  Nu Skin said the 
lack of clarity in regards to how a company operates its 
service centers may be by design, as the Chinese authorities 
prefer to wait and see where to draw the line.  Local 
regulators are also uncertain how to interpret the law and 
are using this year to seek guidance from central 
authorities. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The last eight years have been difficult for 
direct sales companies in South China, as they have been 
operating in a sensitive environment and under a watchful 
eye.  Though direct sales companies consider the current 
operating environment less than ideal, they are optimistic 
that the day will come when MLM is allowed in China.  They 
are all treading carefully for the time being, however, so 
as not to anger regulators and cause further restrictions. 
Much will depend on how provincial and local authorities 
interpret and enforce the new law, particularly after more 
licenses are issued. 
 
DONG