Herbalife Ltd announced Thursday that China had granted permission for the company to expand its direct-selling nutritional supplement business to Yunnan province.

The downtown Los Angeles company said that the license from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce covers 12 cities including Yunnan’s capital, Kunming.

In announcing better-than expected second-quarter earnings last month, Herbalife noted that its strongest growth had been in China, where it now has operations in 25 of the country’s 34 provincial-level administrative units.

Shares closed up $1.24, or 2 percent, to $66.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.