China’s Ministry of Commerce gave the US company its approval to start trading in Shaoxing City, which has a population of over six million.
The last year has seen Nu Skin struggling against regulatory issues in its biggest market, China, where authorities suspended sales back in February as they investigated the company’s direct selling practices.
However, the brand believes that, after working hard with the regulatory authorities, it has now come full circle and is well on course to rebuilding its business in the country.
On receiving the news of the latest approval, Chief Executive Officer Truman Hunt said: “We believe the government’s approval of our application is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to work cooperatively with China to ensure healthy, long-term growth of our business.”
Rebuilding business in China
The skin care brand says it expects revenues to grow by between 4 and 6% to $2.50 to $2.56bn in 2015, reflecting a predicted 6% negative impact from foreign currencies during the course of the financial year.
It is hoping that a strong innovation-based product roll out during the course of the coming year should help to further boost its bottom line.
"We have several exciting product and business initiatives that we believe will help generate growth in our business globally,” says Hunt.
“In 2015, we plan to introduce what we consider to be the most ground-breaking anti-aging products in our corporate history. These new anti-ageing innovations will bring technology-based customization to our portfolio, as well as advanced nutritional support for the body."
Emerging out of a tough year...
China authorities decided to investigate Nu Skin's direct sales techniques throughout the country in 2014.
The enquiry effectively froze sales for the company in China for several months, which had a big impact on its revenues as Greater China is the international skin care player's mainstay market.
In 2013, mainland China became the company’s largest market, with a 32% share of its total revenues, which topped $3.1bn last year.