"We give the licence to an enterprise when we think it is mature," said an official from the Ministry of Commerce.

A spokesperson from Amway said they were still waiting and refused to make any comments before the deadline. Mary Kay, another makeup and cosmetics maker based in the United States, seems to be optimistic about their future.

"We are working closely with the government bodies, and are quite confident that we can get the licence, sooner or later," said Mary Kay's spokesperson Zhou Liyu, although he did not mention a date.

According to Zhou, Mary Kay has turned its 6,000 regional distributors into formal employers, and has built a service network throughout China with over 1,000 stores.

Avon, the first company to obtain the licence, now has a network of around 6,000 stores with nearly 30 million sales representatives.

Except for Avon, who has branches in 32 provinces and cities, the other direct sellers with licences can only carry out business in one or two regions. Nu Skin, another cosmetics manufacturer from the United States, for instance, has operated mainly in Shanghai since getting authorization in July.

The company is now preparing to recruit an army of 3,000 to 5,000 part-time direct sellers in Shanghai by next year. Expansion plans also include opening 40 more specialty shops across the country, bringing the total to 200 by next year.

"We advocate the concept of healthy direct sales," said Qiu Jinyun, president of Nu Skin China. "With China's direct sales in its infant stage it is really important to pursue a sound and sustainable development pattern."

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