RESOLUTION: Dr. Xiaochun Luo, Chief Scientific Officer of Avon, introduces new technology and product innovation at Avon's Global R&D Center in Suffern, New York (HUANG WEI)

The first-quarter 2013 results Avon released on April 30 indicated another hard year for the beauty company. Avon's total revenue of $2.5 billion decreased 4 percent, and the column for Asia Pacific revenue reads "excludes China."

Below that, "Revenue in China declined 30 percent, or 31 percent in constant dollars, primarily due to declines in unit sales and the transition to a retail incentive model."

Despite the hardship, Avon CEO Sheri McCoy confirmed the company's resolution to develop the Chinese market on the 2013 Fortune Global Forum took place on June 8 in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. She said they are "certainly focusing on the stabilization" when CNBC asked about the prospect of business in China.

Company profile

David H. McConnell was a traveling book salesman before he created the beauty company. He founded the California Perfume Company in 1886 after realizing his female customers were far more interested in his free perfume samples than books. 

During his bookselling days, McConnell had also noticed that many of his female customers were isolated at home while their husbands went off to work. So he purposely recruited female sales representatives. That was a revolutionary concept at a time of limited employment options for women.

McConnell trademarked Avon in 1932. It rose to become one of the largest beauty companies and direct selling enterprises. It is also the first of its kind to set up e-commerce.

In 2012, Avon was ranked number 234 on the Fortune 500 with total revenue of $10.7 billion and 6 million independent sales representatives.

The company entered China in 1990. Direct sales were prohibited by the government, so it opened retail franchises across the country in 1998, and established a hybrid sales model when it earned China's first license for direct sales in 2006.

After suffering losses for nine consecutive years, Avon was said to be retreating from the Chinese market in 2012. But in March 2013, John Lin, former head of the company's Canadian unit, was appointed as president of Chinese business and was expected to start a new reform of its sales channel in China.