GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) has cut 40 percent of its sales reps in China and axed some units as it eyes a return to growth in 2016, after sales plunged during a bribery scandal that landed it with a record $490 million fine in 2014.

The British firm is gambling on a new, cleaner image to reboot its performance and reputation with doctors and consumers, China head Herve Gisserot told Reuters during a wide-ranging interview at the group's Shanghai headquarters.

It is the first time Gisserot has spoken at length about the firm's progress since the high-profile scandal, which saw his predecessor Mark Reilly charged with bribery and eventually deported to Britain. Reilly has since left the company.

"Obviously GSK is a very well-known name in China and unfortunately not for the right reasons," said Gisserot, who took over as general manager in July 2013 soon after the scandal surfaced.

GSK has previously said it would overhaul its business in China, and more globally, to avoid some of the issues that led to the probe, including stopping all sales-based incentives for drug reps and reducing paid junkets for doctors.

The problem is, many of GSK's rivals are not following in step, and adapting to a new model means taking a business hit.

"If you look at the short-term business performance, it's not great," said Gisserot.

GSK's China sales dropped from 759 million pounds ($1.2 billion) in 2012 to 585 million pounds in 2013 and were flat in 2014. This year has been volatile, after the disposal of peripheral operations and disruption to a factory in North China's Tianjin following explosions in the city in August.

But despite its woes GSK China remains profitable, and Gisserot expects sales to grow again in 2016, before rising in double digits from 2017, helped by the rollout of new products, including HPV vaccine Cervarix.

GSK, in China since 1910, has shrunk its business since the scandal, drastically reducing promotional activities and focusing its resources on a smaller number of therapy areas including hepatitis, respiratory disease and vaccines.

The number of front-line sales reps has fallen from 5,000 to around 3,000, and GSK is focusing on hiring new graduates who don't have the "baggage" of established peers.