China’s State Administration of Markets and State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, published a notice on their websites Nov. 1 saying the regulator "urges e-cigarette producers, retailers, or individual sellers to temporarily close online sales websites or channels" and “urges e-commerce platforms to temporarily close e-cigarette shops" to “further strengthen the protection of the physical and mental health of minors.”
According to a study by Tsinghua University’s Public Health and Technology Supervision Research Group, China has more than 7.4 million e-cigarette consumers and is the largest maker of e-cigarette products.
The vaguely worded statement has many questioning whether it qualified as a ban and whether it would be enforced.
“There is no law and regulation in China that forbids the online sale of e-cigarette yet,” said Ou Junbiao, head of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of China. Ou said he thought that the regulator was worried about losing the tax revenue stream it gets from selling cigarettes.
However, many e-cigarette companies have been quick to comply. Seven of China’s most popular e-cigarette brands put out statements on social media late Friday saying that they supported the decision by the regulator. RELX, the most popular brand in China with a 60% market share, said it “firmly supports” the decision by the regulator. “We will fully act to terminate all sales and advertising on the internet,” it said on its social media account.