Anran
January 4, 2022
The Guanshanhu District Market Supervision Administration in Guiyang, Guizhou province, has fined and confiscated a total of 200,000 yuan from a distributor of Shandong Anran Nano Industrial Development Co. (Anran Nano) for conducting direct selling without approval, according to an administrative penalty notice posted on the Credit China (Guizhou) platform and reported in early January 2022.
The penalized business, Guanshanhu District Xingwei Daily Goods Store, is run by Feng Yongqiong, who signed a distributor contract with Anran Nano on May 27, 2021 and registered the store as an individual business on July 29, 2021. The store displayed Anran's direct selling license and signage reading Anran Huaqi Guiyang Operation Center, and was used to show products and train members, who then bought through the Anran Mall app.
Regulators inspected the premises on September 2, 2021 on suspicion of pyramid selling and opened a case. They concluded that the members recruited by the store were in substance direct sellers, that none had been issued direct seller certificates, and that the store had not obtained approval from the authorities, which amounted to unlicensed direct selling under Article 39 of China's Direct Selling Regulations. The store's illegal sales income of 31,070 yuan was confiscated and it was fined 168,930 yuan.
Anran Nano received Chinese direct selling license No. 32 on January 9, 2012. According to the Ministry of Commerce direct selling registry, its approved footprint covers 9 branches and 72 service outlets. The Guiyang store was not on that list, and neither Guanshanhu District nor Guiyang falls within Anran's approved direct selling regions.