Alibaba to End Sales of Vaping Products

Alibaba International Station announced that, beginning May 1, it will no longer allow the sale of vaping products, according to a report by Panda Daily. The cross-border trade B2B e-commerce platform’s ban will include cartridges, e-liquids, hardware and all other vaping-related products.

Alibaba is one of the world’s largest retailers and e-commerce companies.

In March this year, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration of China announced new rules for e-cigarettes, which are scheduled to come into force on May 1.

After the document was issued, many e-cigarette manufacturers said that they would stop the production of e-cigarettes with fruit flavors in the domestic market. Therefore, under the new regulations, the prices of e-cigarettes have been rising. Many brands raised the price of their e-cigarettes with various fruit and soda flavors, with prices increasing between CNY20 ($3.14) and CNY30.

According to a report released by iiMedia Research, the retail sales of the global new tobacco market reached CNY360.5 billion in 2021, an overall increase of 25.6 percent, while China’s domestic sales increased by 73 percent. In addition, according to the Blue Book of the Electronic Cigarette Industry in 2021, in terms of export, the total output value of electronic cigarettes exports reached CNY138.3 billion, and there are more than 1,500 e-cigarette manufacturers in China.