A woman who ran an online Taobao store, and was sentenced to 11 years in jail for smuggling South Korean cosmetics into China, has seen her sentence cut by eight years, announced the Beijing Second Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday.

Many members of the public had criticized the original sentence for being too harsh.

Li Xiaohang, who worked as a cosmetics purchaser, was previously charged and sentenced in July 2012 for "smuggling ordinary goods." In addition to her three-year custodial sentence, Li was ordered to pay a 500,000 yuan ($82,360) fine. Her two accomplices, Shi Haidong and Chu Ziqiao, were sentenced to five and seven years respectively.

The accomplices also saw reduced sentences of just over two years and reduced fines at the appeal, which was ordered by the court due to "unclear facts and insufficient evidence" in May, the People's Daily reported.

The cosmetics, which Li bought from South Korean duty-free stores, were sold in an online store Li ran from 2009. She allegedly brought her cosmetics into the country without a custom's declaration.

The trio had been charged with tax evasion of 1.09 million yuan, but this figure was reduced to 80,000 yuan.

Li was immediately taken into custody from the court. She had previously been bailed as she was taken ill with a blood disorder.

Li Jun, Li's father, said that they would go on appealing until a "fair judgment" could be made for his daughter.

"The court has failed to prove that all of the 80,000 yuan went to my daughter. In fact, the other two agents also benefited," he said.

According to China's Criminal Law, smugglers can face a jail term of up to three years if the amount of tax evaded falls between 50,000 and 150,000 yuan.

"Given that Li faced the heaviest punishment when she did not reach the upper limit, this decision is still too harsh," said Zhang Yan, Li's lawyer, who added that Li deserved probation due to her illness. 

Her father added that Li was unaware that it is illegal to sell cosmetic products that were brought in from overseas online, as many other people do the same.

Another online cosmetics vendor, surnamed Wu, said via Sina Weibo that she did not understand why their business was considered as smuggling.

"It's all because the imported goods are so expensive here, and so are the taxes," Wu said.

Chinese customs regulations only allow for a certain amount of goods to be imported tax free in person, however, many online vendors bring goods in this way to avoid customs duties.

There are so far no specific laws to deal with the international purchasing business, said Dong Yizhi, a research fellow with the China e-Business Research Center.

"China is encouraging e-commerce, which includes such businesses. We should guide them with policies and regulations," Dong said. He added that Li's case cannot be seen as a precedent, as the final decision may have been affected by public opinion.