While many Shanghai residents shopped for groceries and other essentials, fearing a snap COVID-19 community lockdown, Wu battled the rain on Thursday afternoon to stock something he considers more important: grape-flavored e-cigarette pods.
Wu, who only gave his last name for privacy reasons, told Sixth Tone that he didn’t want to take any chances before China’s new regulation on e-cigarettes goes into effect on May 1.
Last week, the country’s Tobacco Monopoly Administration announced it would “prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, other than tobacco flavors, and e-cigarettes to which users can add their own atomized substances.”
Industry insiders say the new regulation will mark “a strong regulatory era” for China’s domestic e-cigarette industry and strengthen supervision on products that have seen massive popularity among smokers in recent years. The new regulation will consolidate the rules governing the sale of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products in line with those for ordinary cigarettes, requiring manufacturers and sellers to acquire licenses from the government.
Zhang Wanqing – Sixth Tone – 2022-03-17.