China's government in recent weeks has detained officials involved in licensing foreign companies to operate in China, in what appears to be a widening corruption probe that has touched most obviously on the direct-selling business. The news comes at a time when New York-based Avon Products Inc. says it may have found improprieties in its operations in the country.
中国政府近几周拘捕了负责向外资公司在华开展业务发放牌照的多位官员，这看来是明显针对直销业务发起的一次大规模的腐败调查。而在这一消息公布的同时，总部位于纽约的雅芳(Avon Products Inc.)称，其中国业务可能存在不当行为。


The sweep has implicated key officials involved in licensing and regulating numerous foreign companies in China, as well as lawyers adept at arranging licenses for new entrants to China, according to people familiar with the situation and Chinese media reports. The most senior official so far detained for questioning by authorities, people familiar with the situation said, is Guo Jingyi, director general of the treaty and law department at China's Ministry of Commerce, who has been a key voice in deciding which foreign companies get business licenses.
根据知情人士以及中国媒体的报导，这场风暴涉及负责大量在华外资企业牌照发放和监管的官员，以及精于为新进入中国者安排牌照的律师。知情人士称，迄今为止被双规的最高级别官员是中国商务部条法司巡视员郭京毅。在哪家外资企业能够获得商业牌照方面，郭京毅一直拥有重大发言权。


The direct-selling industry has taken notice that among those detained is a longtime gatekeeper at the Commerce Ministry, Deng Zhan, a deputy director general with a particular responsibility for regulating the direct-selling sector. Also detained is Liu Wei, a deputy director for foreign investment at the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, an organization that monitors corporate day-to-day business operations. Also being investigated is Zhang Yudong, an attorney at the Beijing firm Seafront Law Office, also known as Sifeng, which says it has helped more than 100 foreign companies now doing business in China get licensed, including direct-sales companies.
直销业受到关注是因为落马的官员中包括负责直销领域监管的商务部外资司副司长邓湛。被拘捕的还有国家工商总局外商投资企业注册局副局长刘伟。接受调查的还有北京思峰律师事务所主任张玉栋，据称该律师事务所曾帮助100多家目前在华开展业务的外资公司获得牌照，其中就包括直销公司。


Officially, China hasn't said anything about the investigations, though the names have been reported in some of the country's media. The secretive administrative-detention process can keep detainees in a legal limbo for extensive questioning without charges being brought. The government agencies didn't respond to requests for comment, and the officials themselves couldn't be reached.
中国官方并未就这些调查表态，不过部分国内媒体已经报导了落马官员的名字。这种秘密的行政拘押程序可以在没有提出指控的情况下关押被拘留者，进行长时间的讯问。政府部门对置评要求没有做出回复，记者也未能联系到这些官员。


Some analysts in China doubt investigators are looking solely at the direct-selling industry since some people snared by the investigation have a hand in approving deals for a variety of foreign companies and industries.
中国的一些分析师对调查只是针对直销业的说法表示怀疑，因为接受调查的人员参与批准了形形色色的外资企业和行业的交易。


Still, others point to signs of growing problems for the direct-selling industry. On Oct. 20, Avon announced that since June it has been investigating allegations that certain travel, entertainment and other expenses in its China operations 'may have been improperly incurred.' The suspected bribery in China by Avon officials involves several million dollars, according to a person familiar with the company's internal investigation. The alleged wrongdoing was detected when an employee wrote a letter to Avon Chief Executive Andrea Jung alleging improper spending related to travel with government officials.
不过，也有人指出直销业的问题有不断升温的迹象。雅芳10月20日宣布，该公司自6月份以来一直在调查有关其中国业务中部分旅游、娱乐等费用“可能不当发生”的问题。据了解该公司内部调查情况的知情者透露，在华雅芳管理人员涉嫌贿赂的金额达数百万美元。这一情况是在一名员工致信雅芳首席执行长钟彬娴(Andrea Jung)，指控有同政府官员旅行有关的不当支出之后发现的。


'The internal investigation is at early stages, no conclusions can be drawn at this time,' an Avon spokeswoman said. 'It's premature to comment further.'
雅芳的发言人称，内部调查处于初步阶段，目前还未得出结论。对此做出更多评论还为时过早。


Separately, in April this year, documents leaked from inside closely held Mary Kay Inc., another direct seller, appeared to offer a peek into questionable business practices as they named more than 200 bureaucrats responsible for regulating direct sellers in a southern province and listed in detail about $100 worth of Mary Kay products each person was given, for a total in the tens of thousands of dollars. Dallas-based Mary Kay conceded the tally was genuine but said the freebies of perfume, skin cream and makeup were samples, not bribes, and said the leaked list was a clumsy attempt at blackmail by a disgruntled former employee.
另外，在今年4月份，从另一家直销商──少数人持股公司玫琳凯(Mary Kay Inc.)泄露出来的文件似乎让人们进一步了解了令人质疑的业务做法。文件中列出了南方一个省份负责直销商监管的200多位官员的名字，并详细罗列了向每位官员提供的价值约为100美元的玫琳凯产品，总额达到了数万美元。位于达拉斯的玫琳凯承认这份名单是真实的，但说免费赠送给官员的香水、护肤品和化妆品都属于样品，而非贿赂。该公司还称，这份外泄的名单是心存不满的一位前员工试图勒索的拙劣做法。


'Everyone involved found that Mary Kay was in full compliance with the Chinese law and also the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,' said a Mary Kay spokesman.
玫琳凯发言人说，所有有关人员都认为，玫琳凯完全遵守了中国法律，以及美国的《反海外腐败法》(Foreign Corrupt Practices Act)。


China has long been wary of foreign direct-selling organizations, suspicious they profit from pyramid schemes and sometimes employ a religious component. It shut foreign-owned direct-selling networks during the 1990s but on joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, Beijing agreed to permit direct selling again. When it ultimately opened the door, the government set strict rules. The Commerce Ministry's Mr. Deng once characterized the framework as 'direct-selling with Chinese characteristics.'
长期以来，中国一直对海外直销组织持谨慎态度，担心他们会从金字塔型的结构中渔利，有时甚至带有宗教色彩。上世纪90年代，中国曾关闭外资直销网络。但在2001年加入世界贸易组织时，中国政府再次同意允许直销。当最终对外资直销敞开大门时，政府设立了严格的规定。商务部的邓湛曾将这个框架描述为“具有中国特色的直销”。


Yet, industry officials say that in China it is all but impossible to legally run a traditional network of door-to-door salespeople, since a web of regulations enforced by at least two government agencies dictate foreign operators structure a business that looks a lot like retailing. To serve all of urban China, for instance, direct-sales companies would each need to establish 2,861 shop-like service centers, an 'overly burdensome' requirement, according to a report this year from China-based American Chamber of Commerce groups.
不过，业内人士称，在中国合法经营一个传统的上门推销人员网络是不可能的，因为至少两个政府部门颁发的多项规定要求外资企业只能采取更类似于零售的商业结构。比如，根据今年中国美国商会组织发布的一份报告，为了服务所有的中国城市人口，每家直销公司需要设立2,861个类似于商店的服务中心，这是一个“实在难以负担”的要求。


China also frustrates direct sellers with special taxes, high investment requirements and by capping sales commissions at 30% of product revenue, less than some stores earn on their mark-ups. In addition, China bans a cornerstone of the industry, so-called down-line, or multilayer, sales, in which a person shares in the sales commissions of anyone he recruits into the distribution network. In China, Avon encourages new salespeople to increase their earnings by opening storefronts, a perfectly legal strategy but one that challenges financial assumptions about direct selling.
令直销商感到痛苦的是，中国还针对直销设立了特别税种，提高了投资要求，并将销售佣金的上限限定在产品收入的30%，比一些商店成本加成后的利润还低。此外，中国还明令禁止了该行业的基础，即所谓的下线或多层次销售。在中国，雅芳鼓励新加盟销售人员通过开设店面增加收入，这是一个完全合法的策略，但这却同直销的财务前提假设存在冲突。


To loosen the leash, according to a senior executive of a major direct-sales firm in China, operators encourage regulators to look the other way by proffering expensive gifts, from free merchandise for junior inspectors to luxurious travel for senior bureaucrats. 'This is not the exception, that is the rules of the game,' says the person.
据一家在华大型直销公司的高管称，为了松绑，运营商通过赠送昂贵的礼品促使监管机构睁一只眼闭一只眼，从向级别较低的监管人员提供免费产品，到赞助高级官员豪华旅游等。这位人士称，这并非个案，而是游戏规则。


In 2006, Avon was granted the first direct-selling license in China, a fact Avon has often trumpeted. Since then, China has remained a major strategic focus for the company, where its sales force now totals hundreds of thousands of representatives. Last year, Avon's sales in China reached $281 million, while operating profits reached $2 million.
2006年，雅芳获得了首个在华直销牌照，这一事实也令雅芳深感自豪。从那以后，中国一直是该公司的战略重点，目前雅芳在中国已经拥有了数十万名销售代表。去年，雅芳在华销售额达到了2.81亿美元，运营利润达200万美元。


Avon CEO Ms. Jung, who is fluent in Chinese, is a corporate celebrity in China, where she has been dubbed 'glamour queen' by some local media and has met frequently with senior officials.
中文流利的雅芳首席执行长钟彬娴在中国是位企业界名人。她在中国频频同高级官员会见，部分当地媒体称她为“魅力女王”。


Avon's internal investigation focuses on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a U.S. law that outlaws bribing foreign officials. Foreign-corruption investigations and prosecutions have dramatically increased in recent years, thanks to a flurry of new anticorruption laws that has helped foster international cooperation.
雅芳内部调查的重点是遵守《反海外腐败法》的情况。这部美国法律认定贿赂外国官员属于违法行为。由于众多新的反腐败法推动了国际合作，海外腐败调查和指控的数量近年来大幅增加。


Avon's probe is believed to focus on a handful of company officials in China, according to a person familiar with the investigation. Certain Avon employees in the U.S. are being looked at as well, this person said.
知情人士透露，据信雅芳的调查主要针对在中国的多位公司高管。这位人士称，美国的部分雅芳员工也受到了调查。


Thursday, Avon reported that third-quarter profit surged by 60%, helped by higher prices and a tax gain. But Avon cut its forecast through the rest of the year and offered a bleak outlook for its North American business. Profit totaled $222.6 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with $139.1 million a year earlier. Sales were $2.6 billion, up 13%.
周四，雅芳公布第三季度利润飙升60%，这主要得益于产品涨价和一项税收利得。但雅芳下调了今年剩余时间的预期，并对北美业务的前景表示悲观。雅芳第三季度利润总额为2.226亿美元，合每股52美分，而上年同期的利润为1.391亿美元。销售额为26亿美元，增长了13%。