Overseas policies and regulations on electronic cigarettes are relatively loose and bring more opportunities to the overseas track for e-cigs.
At present, domestic e-cigarette regulations are stable and orderly. On June 15 this year, the official website of the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration announced that the national unified e-cigarette transaction management platform was officially launched. E-cigarettes implement “one item, one code”, and e-cigarette companies that have not obtained a license will not be allowed to trade through e-cigarette trading platforms. At the same time, the new version of the “Administrative Measures for Electronic Cigarettes” removes the requirement that exporting electronic cigarette enterprises need to obtain a license for tobacco monopoly production enterprises.
Going deeper into the market, the reporter learned that Shenzhen Airport recently stated that it has worked with relevant parties such as the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce to jointly study and issue a white list of electronic cigarette products in response to the bottleneck in the domestic electronic cigarette air transportation chain. Enterprise identification standards and differentiated security inspection guidelines for air export exports. In the future, it plans to build Shenzhen Airport into a global transshipment center for electronic cigarettes.
Going to the international market, on June 23, a piece of overseas news quickly detonated the domestic e-cigarette circle: the global e-cigarette giant JUUL was officially issued a listing refusal order by the US Food and Drug Administration. If JUUL is delisted, it means that other brands will gain a larger market share, and many of them from China will also benefit from it. “This is undoubtedly good news for domestic e-cigarette exporters.” Some people in the industry have expressed their optimistic views.
Unlike the Chinese market, some countries in Southeast Asia are open to e-cigarettes and even allow e-cigarettes to be sold online. According to data from Euromonitor, a consumer market research organization, it is expected that the total market for electronic atomization in Southeast Asia will reach 766 million US dollars in 2023, or about 5.1 billion yuan.
This favorable news has given more development space for the export of electronic cigarettes. Many leading electronic cigarette brands have already deployed in overseas markets, especially the electronic cigarette enterprises in Shenzhen have exploded with amazing potential. “Compared to the domestic market with increasingly strict regulatory policies, there is undoubtedly more room for overseas markets.” A practitioner told reporters.
“E-cigarettes have a strong ‘innovative’ attribute, and the product replacement rate remains within 3-6 months. Looking at the global market, only Shenzhen can achieve this state of rapid innovation.”
According to the reporter’s investigation, leading companies such as RELX and MOTI have also begun to bet on overseas markets. RELX tried overseas exploration as early as 2019. After its establishment in 2021, RELX International, which is responsible for overseas business, has accumulated millions of consumers in more than 40 countries around the world. Another brand MOTI now also covers 35 countries and regions around the world, has more than 100,000 outlets of various types around the world and even established an independent platform for the industry’s leading e-commerce in North America.
Why Do Vape Brands Choose Shenzhen?
The origin of Shenzhen and electronic cigarettes dates back to 2004. At that time, the first domestic electronic cigarette “Ruyan” came out, which not only quickly became popular in the domestic market but also attracted many consumers around the world. Affected by the success of “Ruyan”, a large number of electronic cigarette factories have emerged in Zhejiang, Shenzhen, and other places, and in the following ten years, Shenzhen has gradually become the core electronic cigarette production cluster in the country and even the world.
From the invention of the first electronic cigarette to today, there are 55 electronic cigarette enterprises above the designated size, among which there are many well-known enterprises such as Maxwell, Leiyan Technology (the parent company of MOTI vape), and the output value has reached 35.6 billion yuan. In 2022, the number of enterprises has increased to 77, and the output value is expected to further increase.
Shenzhen’s electronic cigarette manufacturing factory has high-end production equipment and complete supporting objects ranging from cigarette rods, e-liquids, and batteries to pods. You only need to provide the brand and LOGO to the other party, and you can produce exquisite e-cigarettes.
Leading enterprises lead the tide of going overseas
In addition to the rapid iterative innovation of technology, more and more electronic cigarette manufacturers are gradually moving towards high-tech, and they are beginning to care about patents.
The reporter learned that the e-cigarette companies going overseas are now showing a two-level trend of differentiation. Due to the characteristics of stricter production standards and better quality, leading companies not only easy to enter the new whitelist of Shenzhen Airport when exporting but are also more respected by players in overseas markets. It is relatively difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to go overseas, and it is not even possible to rule out the ending of leaving the market sadly.
As a leading e-cigarette company, MOTI and other leading e-cigarette companies have early obtained the “Tobacco Monopoly Production Enterprise License (E-cigarette Brand Holder)” issued by the state this year. Since the establishment of the company, Leiyan Technology has upheld the heart of awe, maintained a high degree of industry self-discipline, actively implemented national regulatory requirements, and adhered to compliant development. Flame Technology has been deeply involved in the industry for more than ten years. Driven by-products, it is good at scientific research and innovation, and its accumulated core technologies and patents are ahead of the industry. As one of the first enterprises to fully develop products that meet the national standard, Leiyan Technology adheres to high standards and strict requirements, upgrades new products, and is committed to providing a better experience with national standard products.
According to the report “Blue Book on Electronic Cigarette Industry Exports in 2022”, China’s electronic cigarette exports will reach 138.3 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 180%. It is estimated that the total export value of electronic cigarettes will reach 186.7 billion yuan in 2022, with a growth rate of 35%. As domestic leading companies, MOTI, RELX, and other electronic cigarette industries continue to expand overseas markets, occupy more overseas market shares, and taking up the upstream position of the global industrial chain, and take the lead in formulating standards for the global electronic atomization industry.
Source report from The Beijing News
