Released by Chinese customs these statistics indicated that the 1.489 billion US dollars, accounted for 27.15% of China’s total exports, down 2.2% year-on-year. While the exports of disposable vapes are believed to have reached a value of $1.1 billion, and accounted for about 74% of China’s total vapes exports to the EU.
Of course this is not news. Not only has the EU been growing concerned about the influx of disposables from China, but last week’s media were saturated with headlines about a new wave of products disguised as school supplies, flooding in from China. Many of these products are made to look like highlighters, USBs, ballpoint pens and even phones. The news reports said that these vapes are disposable, available in an array of child-friendly flavours, and unregulated.
Meanwhile China has been regularly updating its vape regulations, and the Management Rules of E-Cigarettes became effective on October 1st, 2022. The Chinese industry had operated within a grey area for years, and a movement towards regulating started around 2020. Amongst other things, the new regulations have banned 122 vape flavours as proposed by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), including numerous fruit and alcohol flavours.
The new measures include an amendment of the country’s tobacco monopoly, extending it to e-cigarettes, hence forcing local businesses to register with the tobacco authority. Moreover local manufacturers must now obtain an additional license to prove they are in possession of sufficient funds for production, and an adequate facility and equipment that meet the set standards. The STMA had released a guidance outlining the process for Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers to obtain the required manufacturer licence.
China’s low vaping rates
In other news, a research team from Shanghai set out to determine the perceptions of vaping products and prevalence of use among local adults. The study, “E-cigarette awareness and use, among adult residents in Shanghai, China,” used data from a representative survey conducted in Shanghai in 2019 and conducting face-to-face interviews in 3200 households.
A total of 72.3% of the respondents knew of vaping products. In all, 5.8% had vaped at some point in their life, 2.6% had used the products in last 12 months, and 1.3% were current vapers. Among the participants who had heard of vapes, 38.2% believed they were safer than cigarettes, and as expected, those who perceived e-cigarettes as more harmful than cigarettes were less likely to have ever vaped.