U.S.-based nutrition company Herbalife can now conduct its direct-selling business in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan.
China's Ministry of Commerce granted Herbalife the Yunnan license, which covers 12 cities, including the provincial capital Kunming, and 16 districts and counties. The license is effective immediately.
Herbalife received its first direct-selling license in China in March 2007, and Yunnan marks the 25th direct selling license for Herbalife in China. Herbalife China now has direct-selling licenses in 25 provinces, municipalities or autonomous regions: Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hubei, Anhui, Shangdong, Henan, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Fujian, Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hainan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shaanxi, Beijing, Shanxi, Tianjin, Hebei and Yunnan.
Herbalife products are sold in more than 80 countries to and through a network of independent distributors. ten years ago, this type of business model was considered a dangerous pyramid model in China, and thus was illegal. But Chinese authorities have softened over the years and granted Avon, Amway, and Herbalife direct-selling licenses.