SHANGHAI, July 9 -- DELL Inc scrapped its direct-sale-only mode in China today by authorizing VST Holdings Limited to distribute its personal computers, portables and servers, Sina.com reported today.

The Hong Kong-listed company, one of the largest distributors of IT products in China, signed an agreement with Dell in Beijing today to sell its products in 12 provinces, and they will expand the partnership in the future, the report said.

It's the first time that Dell, the world's second-biggest maker of personal computers, authorized distributors to sell its products besides direct sales.

Dell is also in talks to sell products through retailers in Asia as part of founder Michael Dell's plan to close the gap on larger rival Hewlett-Packard Co.

VST began distributing IT products in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland from 1991 and was listed in Hong Kong in 2002, the report said.

It signed distributorship agreements with four international brands in 2005 and 2006, including Maxtor's HDD, Lexar Media's complete line of memory product and ASRock's motherboard.