Chinese app WeChat bans all e-cigarette sales

China’s most popular messaging app WeChat has suspended mini-programs, or lightweight apps that run within WeChat, from selling e-cigarettes, products that have attracted an investment craze in the past six months, reported the National Business Daily.

WeChat said mini-programs touting different brands of e-cigarettes have violated tobacco sales regulations. A mini-program for e-cigarette brand MOTI was allowed to reopen after corrections in mid-April. 

As China’s policy towards e-cigarettes remains unclear, leading e-commerce sites Tmall.com and Jd.com still allow searches for the gadgets that use battery-powered cartridges to produce a flavored vapor that often contains nicotine.

The WeChat move is closely watched by the industry as most brands sell their products through the messaging app.