According to an artical just released in the AFR it is...

According to an artical just released in the AFR it is "understood that a2 will be granted a license in the next couple of weeks", good times!

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China has again delayed the implementation of tough new laws on the cross border e-commerce trade, providing a further reprieve for Australian vitamin and cosmetic firms.

In a surprise announcement late on Wednesday evening the State Council, China's cabinet, said the new laws would be delayed for a further 12 months.

It means they are now scheduled to come into affect at the end of 2018, in what is the third delay to licensing provisions which spooked investors in China-focused consumers stocks listed on the ASX.

The Australian Financial Review has been told new registration provisions for infant formula makers will, however, still come into effect as planned on January 1 next year.

No Australian infant formula brand has been registered so far, but it is understood A2 Milkwill be granted a licence in the next couple of weeks.

The broader reprieve for the cross border e-commerce sector will give more time for the likes of vitamin makers Blackmores and Swisse and the fast-growing cosmetics sector to register their products.

Blackmores has been struggling with weaker than expected sales in recent months, which the company partially attributed to Chinese vendors discounting stock ahead of the planned introduction of the new regulations.

The delay in the regulations will allow Swisse and Blackmores to continue selling goods through China's fast-growing cross border e-commerce market, which permits products to be imported that are not registered with local authorities.

For the big vitamin makers, which have multiple product lines, the ruling is significant as it often takes between one and three years to register a product in China.

At its most recent result briefing Blackmores said direct sales to China, much of which would go through cross border e-commerce platforms, had jumped 71 per cent to $132 million over the last year.

But a pullback in Australian sales to Chinese tourists and personal shoppers, known as daigou, saw its overall profit decline 41 per cent to $59 million.

China's State Council did not provide a reason for pushing back the registration period, but the announcement was made in conjunction with a statement by Premier Li Keqiang saying the government would do more to support employment and entrepreneurial pursuits.

"We need to enable the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce and speed up the growth of new engines, making the foreign trade sector more adaptive to new circumstances," said the official Xinhua news agency in a quote attributed to the Premier. "The prospects for cross-border e-commerce are very bright."

Despite the uncertainly hanging over the sector, sales rose 30 per cent to 3.6 trillion yuan ($7.2 billion) in the first half of the year.

While the sector is dominated by the big e-commerce players JD.com and Alibaba, thousands of smaller traders have also taken advantage of a move towards foreign products by Chinese consumers.

Tighter rules would have made it more difficult for them to secure products and could have potentially forced them back onto the job market. China needs to create at least 10 million new jobs each year to cater for those leaving school and university.

The new e-commerce laws were first flagged in April 2016 on the eve of a visit to China by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.