Amway meets challenge in Chinese market

World-leading direct sales company Amway's dramatic experience in China may provide an ideal case for Harvard Business Review. It had to re-engineer its China network when its original marketing mode was virtually outlawed by central government as unsuitable to national characteristics. But it now runs 180 retail outlets around the nation which earned over 13 billion yuan in revenue last year, compared with the company's global sales of $6.4 billion.

As a world-leading company, how did Amway make this transition? Steve Van Andel, chairman of Amway Corp and its parent company Alticor Inc, talks to China Daily's Wu Yong and Liu Ce in Liaoning province about its unique ways of marketing, management and development in the Chinese market.

Q: Amway started operations over ten years ago in China and has experienced up and downs during this process. But the company successfully adapted to the new environment and situation every time. How did Amway succeed in doing this?