Hong Kong: Amway may post at least a 10 per cent gain in 2010 sales in China as direct-selling rebounds and consumers boost retail spending.

Sales in China, where Amway runs stores selling products including cosmetics, vitamin supplements and kitchen utensils, rose 12 per cent to $3 billion (Dh11.01 billion) in 2009 and revenue growth this year will be in "double-digits", Eva Cheng, chairwoman of Amway (China) , said in interview in Hong Kong. China is the top market for Amway, which generated global sales of $8.4 billion last year.

Ada, Michigan-based Amway, which started door-to-door sales in China 15 years ago, has made a comeback since a 1998 ban on direct-sales companies by adapting its business model to open 237 shops in 197 cities. China cracked down on direct selling, saying some companies had engaged in "underground activities", smuggling and selling fake products, according to a 1998 government notice.

Opportunities

"We're here to create an honest income opportunity for people from all walks of life and to provide them with training," said Cheng, who's also executive vice-president at Amway. "We really want to make sure that our products meet the dietary needs and habits of the Chinese people."

Amway lobbied the Chin-ese government to lift the ban and opened stores countrywide to show greater transparency and "physical presence," said Cheng, who was ranked 88th in Forbes magazine's World's 100 Most Powerful Women in 2008.

No commission

Amway China runs and owns the stores and, unlike in other countries, sales agents in the country don't get a commission on the sales made by their new recruits, Cheng said.

China in 2005 introduced a new direct-selling law detailing how sales agents can be compensated and the size of sales meetings, according to the commerce ministry. Teachers, doctors and civil servants are banned from becoming direct-sales agents, the rule stated.

"China is a fairly low-trust environment," Ben Cavender, senior analyst at consulting company China Market Research Group in Shanghai, said in an interview. "Word-of-mouth becomes a big component when deciding what to buy."

China currently has 24 direct-selling companies with approved licences and verified records of having a business service network, the ministry's web site showed.