News Source: Salt Lake Tribune
"Utah company gets OK to sell products in Beijing, ShanghaiChinese authorities have opened the capital of Beijing to Nu Skin Enterprises' direct-selling business model, starting out the New Year on a positive note for the company that is forecasting its best year ever in 2008.
Provo-based Nu Skin said Tuesday it also has permission to expand to all areas of Shanghai. It and Beijing are two of the largest markets in China - one of the keys to the company's growth.
The approvals from provincial authorities give publicly traded Nu Skin a potential market of 37 million people for its line of nutritional supplements and skin-care products, providing an opportunity to turn around a recent revenue decline in China.
Nu Skin CFO Ritch Wood called the Chinese decisions the "icing on the cake" of its potential for growth.
"We understand it's a very long-term project," he said. "This is one more stone in the foundation that leads to where we want to be in the long term."
Nu Skin is one of a number of direct-marketing companies looking to follow Avon's lead and get permission to operate in all of China. In July 2006, Nu Skin was only the second company after Avon to receive permission from the central government to open direct-sales operations, which allowed it to sell directly to the public through independent distributors in areasĀ of Shanghai. But the company was still required to separately seek permission from each of about 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions..
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