Category: China

Liquid Success

Zinwi R&D Center
Zinwi Bio-Tech is the first company to be authorized by the Chinese government to produce e-liquids.
By Timothy S. Donahue
The e-cigarette industry is competitive. It is also growing rapidly. According to a recent report from Allied Market Research, the global e-cigarette market was valued at $17.3 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $94.3 billion by 2031. As stringent regulations are implemented around the world, companies that produce the highest quality products in factories that meet the highest standards are finding themselves in high demand.
When the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration of China (STMA) passed the Electronic Cigarette Administration Measures in March of this year, it required companies to apply for a license and comply with certain technical standards, including permitted ingredients and additives. Companies applying for the license must submit evidence showing financial and manufacturing fitness, to exacting standards set by the STMA, in a limited time frame.
According to the SMTA website, fewer than 50 e-cigarette-related companies—including retailers and manufacturers—have received licenses. In June, Zinwi Bio-Tech became one of the first vape industry companies to secure a production license, specifically in the e-liquid category. Jenny Xu, Zinwi’s deputy director for international business, said garnering the license is challenging. Zinwi needed to meet strict quality control standards and go through a screening procedure that proved the company’s strong, reputable status in the industry.
“The license not only gives Zinwi permission to produce e-liquid in China, helping Zinwi as a leading player in the industry to further enhance its concentration in the e-liquid segment, but also indicates the official recognition on Zinwi’s products, facilities and overall operation,” said Xu. “To secure the license, a company must prove that it is in possession of sufficient funds for production, with adequate facilities and equipment to meet the set standards. The materials and information required to apply are multiple in terms of financial status, production process and quality management.”
In addition, the time window for submitting applications is narrow—a company must have completed and submitted its application by Sept. 30, 2022. The bar is also high, according to Todd Jiang, Zinwi’s sales director for international business, adding that the STMA’s review of both the application materials and the on-site check are strict as well.
Jeff Zou entered the vaping industry and began Zinwi in 2016 with the goal of focusing on R&D, production and sales of e-liquid. Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, Zinwi is a high-tech enterprise integrating the R&D, production and sales of e-liquid, having developed into a global leader in the e-liquid solution service sector. Zou believes e-liquid “is at the core of the e-cigarette and has great potential” because it’s needed in every vaping device.
“All e-liquid is the raw material that consumers vape. Consumers care about taste first followed by brand awareness and product design,” explains Zou. “Especially as the hardware technology becomes more and more mature, and products tend to become standardized, it will not be the hardware that reflects the advantages of e-cigarette brands; instead, the taste of the e-liquid will become the most important factor for consumers to consider when choosing what to vape.”
In 2021, Zinwi Bio-Tech’s annual e-liquid shipment breached the 2,000-ton mark, equivalent to approximately 1.3 billion pods. Its production base covers an area of nearly 20,000 square meters, with complete production and testing equipment, a standard good manufacturing practices (GMP) workshop and automated production lines. The company’s GMP workshop was completed in 2019 and covers more than 1,800 square meters, according to Xu.
“Our production base is able to deliver large orders at low cost and handle customer needs in a timely manner. The average monthly production capacity of our e-liquids can reach 600 tons,” Xu said. “We also have plans to expand our manufacturing sites overseas, so the overall production capacity can be further improved.”
Zinwi Headquarters
Zinwi’s clients include brand customers as well as original design manufacturer/original equipment manufacturer factories. Most of Zinwi’s e-liquids are used in pod products (including rechargeable closed systems and disposable closed systems). Xu said the majority of Zinwi’s products are initially sold to downstream manufacturers in large quantities and then sub-packaged into pods. The company’s team of professional flavor chemists has developed tens of thousands of e-liquid product formulas.
“Zinwi produces e-liquid for both export and the Chinese market. The export destinations cover around 20 countries and regions across Europe, America and Canada, the Middle East, Russia and more,” explains Xu. “The company’s team of professional flavor chemists has developed over 40,000 e-liquid product formulas. Popular flavors can vary from region to region, country to country and city to city. For example, European customers prefer high sweetness, moderate coolness and sufficient aroma while Russian customers prefer moderate sweetness, low coolness and sufficient aroma.”
As of July 2022, Zinwi has approximately 450 employees. The company’s success is based in its strong scientific research ability, secret e-liquid formulas, unique product taste, mastery of market preferences and strict quality control, according to Jiang.
Zinwi has built a professional quality control and testing team to strictly control the process from raw material procurement, manufacturing to finished product testing, warehousing and after-sales quality, according to Jiang. Through sample collections, retention and traceability systems, Zinwi ensures its product quality with a strict quality control regime, according to Jiang. He says that Zinwi produces an average of 400 quality control samples daily that get stored in its 300-square-meter sample storage facility. The company has an 11-step inspection process conducted by more than 60 quality control professionals.
The company invested approximately RMB 26 million ($7.4 million) in its R&D efforts in 2021. Jiang said that this year, the company expects to invest about RMB 50 million. Its commitment to quality is supported by numerous accreditations, including ISO9001 certifications, national CNAS laboratory and GMP certifications, and many others.
“Zinwi has a strong R&D team and first-class scientific research equipment. In 2020, we set up the Atomization Technology Research Institute led by a doctoral team to carry out exploration and research on the basic field of e-liquid,” said Jiang. “Our R&D team continually breaks through the industry’s technical barriers and has obtained and applied for over 200 patents. Our R&D team includes the R&D Center for product R&D and Technology Center for technological innovation.
“The R&D Center is for customer-oriented e-liquid product development. The Technology Center is for the cutting-edge or basic research on technologies, like essential oil extraction from plant, atomization science, sensory science, etc. The ultimate goal of our product and technology R&D is to realize harm reduction atomization.”
According to Jiang, recent R&D projects have focused on core raw materials, product safety, consumer experience and health. “We have developed a variety of core raw materials through plant extraction technology. The high-quality core raw materials further enhance the taste of the product, thereby improving the quality of the product,” he says.
In addition, the company has built a product safety database based on a number of studies of biochemical toxicology, animal toxicology, component analysis and structural identification, among other areas. The knowledge helps guide the company’s research and development of harm reduction products.
“While pursuing consumer experience of taste, satisfaction, etc., we also insist on guiding product development with experimental data and theoretical research and pursue the concept of safety, low temperature and high-efficiency atomization,” adds Jiang.
Zinwi Management Team
When nicotine salts started to explode into the e-liquids market, Zinwi was on the forefront of innovation. Zinwi’s R&D team developed its own nicotine salt technology in 2018, which Jiang said could help vapers achieve a higher level of satisfaction with a softer taste. The company also participates in external research with several universities. Jiang said that the investment allows Zinwi to take advantage of external scientific research institutions and the talent behind those institutions to help Zinwi master the latest technological trends and cutting-edge knowledge.
“Our cooperative universities and institutions include Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology – Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, [Chinese] Society of Toxicology and Shanghai University of Applied Sciences,” said Jiang.
To remain as active as possible in the industry, Zinwi joined the U.K. Vaping Industry Association and cooperated with its U.S. customers to submit a premarket tobacco product application to the Food and Drug Administration. Xu said that Zinwi’s knowledge of global market preferences in e-liquids can help customers quickly expand their customer base and reduce trial and error costs.
“Zinwi’s compliance team can provide customers with global compliance solutions for e-liquids. We have rich practical experience and professional knowledge to help customers understand the latest laws and regulations and industry information, ensuring that their products meet the compliance requirements of global markets and thus effectively enhancing their product competitiveness,” said Xu.
More importantly, the company’s experience in flavor development can set a company apart from its competition. Jiang said that Zinwi’s standardized production, shipping capabilities and quality control processes help the company quickly adapt to changes in a customers’ needs.
“We may even know the market changes earlier than our customers to give them advice and help them develop unique products,” Jiang says enthusiastically. “Our customization service can efficiently meet clients’ needs and ensure customer satisfaction. We will compare our e-liquid quality and variety of flavors with anyone, but no other e-liquid can compare.”

August 26, 2022
FEELM Earns Chinese E-Cigarette Production License

One of the largest and most influential e-cigarette brands now has its production license in China.
FEELM, the flagship atomization technology platform belonging to Smoore – the world’s largest vape manufacture, earned the e-cigarette production licenses after completing all the necessary requirements set out earlier this year by the Chinese government.
The license was obtained from China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), the country’s top regulator of tobacco products.
In early 2022, China brought forward new national standards for electronic cigarettes, which required companies manufacturing vapor products to obtain a production license.
Three Smoore factories, two of which are licensed under the FEELM brand, have been granted production licenses, with FEELM also receiving official approval to produce e-cigarettes as its own entity, according to a press release.
Smoore welcomed China’s new policy framework, ensuring that all e-cigarette manufacturers operate in full compliance with the law.
“It is Smoore’s aim to continue to use science and technology as the driving force behind its business model, actively promoting the long-term sustainability of the industry and supporting its global client and customer base,” the release states.
FEELM’s products are already available in more than 50 countries around the world.
In 2022, FEELM launched its innovative disposable vaping device, FEELM Max, along with the world’s first ultra-thin vaping device, FEELM Air.
These new products will be available in the U.S., Europe, Africa and additional markets.
FEELM now has a total annual production capacity of two billion devices and also has the first fully automated production line in the vapor industry with the ability to produce more than 7,200 atomizers per hour.
“The high-quality production processes are centered on continual improvements to the customer’s vaping experience,” according to the release.
According to Frost & Sullivan, Smoore is the world’s largest vaping device manufacturer in terms of revenue, accounting for 22.8 percent of the total global market share in 2021.
Its global market share is bigger than the combined total of those companies listed from No.2 to No.5.
Less than 50 e-cigarette related companies, including retailers and manufacturers, have met the new restrictions and received licences from the authority so far, STMA’s website shows.
There are an estimated 1,500 companies involved in the vaping industry, according to calculations by the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC) last year.
However, more licenses are expected to be issued in coming months as regulators work through a backlog of applications, according to news reports.

August 16, 2022
Chinese Car Maker BYD Gets Vape Production Permit

Credit: Robert
There has been speculation for a few years now that the BYD, one of the largest companies in China, had plans to enter the e-cigarette market with its own brand. Better known as a car manufacturer and battery producer, BYD Electronic shares surged on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong by as much as 12.5 percent Thursday after the company announced a subsidiary has been granted a license to produce vaping devices.
“The unit has been granted a tobacco production business license by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration [STMA],” BYD Electronic said on its WeChat account, according to YiCai Global. Such permits only started to be issued this year in accordance with new regulations. As of Aug. 4, more than 130 firms had been licensed, according to the STMA website.
“The BYD subsidiary already has a full range of electronic atomization products ready to be patented and is investing in automated production lines, said BYD Electronic, which is the sister company of electric car and battery giant BYD Automobile,” the company stated in a release. “At present, BYD Electronics has completed the patent layout of a full range of electronic atomization products and the construction of automated production lines, fully integrating its own comprehensive capabilities such as new material research and development, precision molds, product design and development, and intelligent manufacturing, and is committed to becoming a Practitioners and leaders in the field of health harm reduction, providing users with excellent products of quality and peace of mind.”
In 2021, BYD said its e-cigarette business was mainly based on brand OEMs, and “there is no independent listing plan.” BYD Electronics has operated in the e-cigarettes field since 2018. It launched the brand “Beem Core” for ceramic atomizing core technology in 2021.
Once it starts full production, BYD will go head to head with industry leader Smoore International, which held 22.8 percent of global market share last year, according to Frost & Sullivan research.
BYD Electronic was spun off from Shenzhen-based conglomerate BYD in 2007 to make cell phone components and printed circuit boards. Its business remit has since expanded to include smartphones, laptops, masks and now, e-cigarettes.
BYD joins industry late-comer Luxshare Precision, a global designer and manufacturer of cable assembly and connector system solutions, and several other China-based manufacturing enterprises as new vaping industry players.
August 6, 2022
Vaporesso Gets Chinese Special Production License

Vaporesso, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smoore, has obtained a production licence from China’s State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), the country’s top regulator of tobacco products.
The license gives Vaporesso products lawful status in the country, Hong Kong-listed Smoore said in a statement on Wednesday. The license will be valid through July 2023, according to the South China Morning Post.
Smoore, the largest e-cigarette manufacturer in the world, is among the first group of companies to comply with China’s tightened rules for the e-cigarette industry, which recently became regulated as a traditional tobacco product.
In March, STMA published final guidelines for the industry, which require that manufactures comply with certain technical standards, including permitted ingredients and additives.
Licensed manufacturers must also trade with downstream wholesalers on a transaction platform overseen by STMA, according to the rules.
Licensed manufacturers must also trade with downstream wholesalers on a transaction platform overseen by STMA, according to the rules.
Less than 50 e-cigarette related companies, including retailers and manufacturers, have met the new restrictions and received licences from the authority so far, STMA’s website shows.
There are an estimated 1,500 companies involved in the vaping industry, according to calculations by the Electronic Cigarette Professional Committee of China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (ECCC) last year.
However, more licenses are expected to be issued in coming months as regulators work through a backlog of applications, according to news reports.

July 21, 2022
Smoore Recognized in Shenzhen for Industrial Design

Photo: Smoore
Smoore has been recognized by the Shenzhen Municipality Industrial Design Development Support Program for its innovation and design capabilities.
The municipality singled out the vaping technology’s specialist for its “innovative design and achievement transformation of closed-pod electronic atomizer based on leadless ceramic heating technology.”
The industrial design team of Feelm, Smoore’s flagship atomization brand, has designed a number of solutions that combine consumer experience with advanced smart manufacturing.
Between 2020 and 2022, Feelm’s industrial design team won eight prestige International design awards, including the Red Dot Award, the iF Design Award, the German National Design Award and the MUSE Design Award.
In 2022, won a Red Dot Product Design Awards for four products, including a lipstick-inspired vaporizer with a twistable nozzle that prevents dust from collecting on the mouthpiece, and an eco-friendly disposable e-cigarette composed of recyclable and reusable aluminum foil.
“Feelm design is devoted to helping clients in improving the user experience from the perspective of a vaping tech brand,” said Totom Lu, head of Feelm Industrial design team, in a statement. “I think the future direction of design of closed-pod vaping solution should lean on three dimensions: product experience, emotional experience—to identify problems before users notice them—and sustainable experience, to focus on product sustainability.”
July 1, 2022
Report: China’s ENDS Exports to Reach $27 Million in 2022

Credit: Zapp 2 Photo
The Blue Book of Electronic Cigarette Exports released on Tuesday estimates that the China’s electronic nicotine-delivery product (ENDS) exports will reach 186.7 billion yuan ($27.82 billion) this year, with exports for the first quarter already totaling 45.3 billion yuan.
According to the Blue Book, produced by the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce, the exports of ENDS in China was 138.3 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 180 percent year-over-year. Among the over 1,500 e-cigarette businesses in China, more than 70 percent are export-oriented.
The Blue Book counts the scale of China’s ENDS exports in different markets in the first quarter of 2021. Among them, the U.S. market is the largest destination with 58 percent ($73.3 billion), followed by the European Union and Britain, which account for 24 percent ($34 billion), then Russia with 8 percent ($9.7 billion). Southeast Asia and the Middle East account for 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
“Although there has been some controversy in the development of e-cigarettes, many still want to consider the industrial value and explore the harm reduction technology that comes along with the new business model,” according to Pan Daily. “In 2021, there were more than 1,500 domestic e-cigarette manufacturing and brand enterprises, more than 190,000 e-cigarette retail outlets, and nearly 100,000 e-cigarette supply chains and merchandise service enterprises. The domestic e-cigarette industry directly employs about 1.5 million people and indirectly employs 4 million people, totaling about 5.5 million people.”
In March this year, China began to enforce its Measures for Electronic Cigarettes Management and the National Standards for Electronic Cigarettes. The regulations put forward clear standards and requirements for compliance operations in production, wholesale and retail, as well as strengthening the protection of minors.
June 15, 2022
Vaping Ban Could Cloud Lam’s Legacy as Hong Kong’s CEO
Credit: Timothy S. Donahue
Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s term may mostly be remembered for her role in the ban on the import and sale of e-cigarettes and other alternatives that has just become law. The ban, first proposed seven years ago, was watered down in 2018 to the permissive regulation that applies to tobacco products.
Opposition to the backdown from medical and education authorities prompted Lam to switch to proposing the full ban in her policy address that year, according to a story in the South China Morning Post. It took lawmakers until last October to pass legislation without exemptions and concessions of one kind or another. Evidence of the effect on consumption of e-cigarettes and the like is that the law has forced some shops selling these products to close.
The most persuasive argument against outlawing the “new tobacco products” was that they were a not so harmful alternative that helped nicotine addicts quit smoking tobacco and perhaps stop altogether. But health minister Sophia Chan Siu-chee said many surveys that supported it were sponsored by tobacco companies.
Essentially the argument hinges on the lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of e-cigarettes and other alternatives, especially on those who begin smoking at a young age. The smoking rate in Hong Kong has fallen to about 10 percent of people aged 15 and above. Ultimately, the prospect of a non-smoking society seems dependent on youth breaking the generational cycle of addiction by not taking up the habit in the first place.
Lam announced in April that she would not seek reelection. Her successor is expected to be picked in May. Hong Kong media have reported this week that Chief Secretary John Lee, the city’s No. 2 leader, is likely to enter the race to succeed Lam.
May 10, 2022
Hong Kong Ban on Vaping Products to Begin Today
Credit: Timothy S. Donahue
Hong Kong’s ban on the importation and sale of alternative smoking products, including vaping and heat-not-burn products, will take effect on April 30.
In a statement, the government said that, under the Smoking (Public Health) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021, people will not be allowed to use or carry an activated vaping device in no-smoking areas. Offenders will be fined HK1,500 ($191).
The ban covers electronic smoking products, heated tobacco products, herbal cigarettes, and their accessories, the government said, reports The Standard.
The ordinance prohibits the importation of any novel tobacco product by way of parcels, cargoes or bringing in by incoming travelers. People bringing such products into the city must declare them to customs.
Starting Saturday, inspectors from the Department of Health’s Tobacco & Alcohol Control Office will conduct inspections, investigate complaints and carry out enforcement actions, the government said.
The ordinance also prohibits the promotion, manufacture, and possession for commercial purposes of novel tobacco products. Those convicted of violating the law will be fined HK50,000 and imprisoned for six months.
April 30, 2022
China Releases Technical Standards for Vaping Products
China’s market regulator today unveiled technical standards for e-cigarettes which will go into effect starting Oct 1.
In a public document, the State Administration for Market Regulation listed the requirements for design, chemical compounds, and the mechanics for e-cigarettes that domestic manufacturers must meet in order to sell their products, according to Channel News Asia.
In March, Chinese tobacco authorities issued a finalized version of rules that stipulate other requirements for e-cigarette companies in China.
Most notably, the rules state that e-cigarette companies may only sell their products through authorized channels, and also bar vendors from selling e-cigarette flavors other than tobacco.
Also, the design of the product should not induce minors. The e-cigarette set and cartridges should be sealed to prevent refilling and e-cigarette sets should have a protection to prevent the device to be turned on by a child or by accident, according to the rules.
“The official release of the national standards for e-cigarettes means that there is a threshold for market access and a national mandatory standard for the quality of e-cigarettes, which is of great significance in protecting the rights and interests of minors and consumers,” said Ao Weino, Secretary-General of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce, Chinese media outlet Yicai reported on Tuesday.
Additionally, Chen Zhong, a senior expert on the e-cigarette industry, said that the era of regulation of e-cigarettes has come and it is an important milestone in the development of e-cigarettes in China.
“From now on, all [e-cigarette] products will be developed according to open and transparent rules, and the whole industry chain will adopt the same standards,” Chen was quoted in a report by the Securities Times.
The Beijing Business Today has revealed that many flavored vape products have seen prices increase by up to 20-30 yuan ($3.14-$4.72). Market research firm Forward Industrial Research Institute, has recently reported that in China there are approximately 1,500 vape manufacturers and brand enterprises, and over 100,000 e-cigarette supply chains and related service enterprises, providing employment to an estimated 5.5 million people.
The research firm also found that in 2021, the domestic e-cigarette sales totaled about 19.7 billion yuan ($3 billion), with an annual growth of 36 percent.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
April 12, 2022
NYSE Rules Force Kate Wang to Resign from RLX Committees
Kate Wang / Credit: RLX
Ying (Kate) Wang has resigned as a member and the chairperson of the compensation committee and the nominating and corporate governance committee of RLX Technology’s board of directors to help the company comply with the relevant New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) listing requirements on board committees’ independence.
Wang is the co-founder, chairperson of the board of directors and CEO of RLX Technology.
Going forward, the compensation committee and nominating committee will be composed entirely of independent directors, namely Zhenjing Zhu and Youmin Xi, RLX Technology announced in a press note.
Concurrent with Wang’s resignation from the compensation committee and the nominating committee, Xi was appointed as the chairperson of the nominating committee and the chairperson of the compensation committee.
Wang last year resigned from the company’s audit committee also to comply with the relevant NYSE’s listing requirements on audit committee’s independence.
April 11, 2022