More than 90% of stores selling e-cigarettes in two major Chinese cities provided WeChat accounts or QR codes for quick delivery services, allowing consumers to bypass a nationwide ban on online sales that took effect in May 2022, a new study has found. Research conducted by the Health Communication Institute of Fudan University in Shanghai, compared e-cigarette stores in Shanghai and Chengdu, Sichuan province, before and after the implementation of the regulations.
In the first observation period in 2021, about 25% of stores offered a WeChat account and 17% provided a QR code for delivery services. These figures jumped to 90% and 91%, respectively, in the second observation period (December 2023 to March 2024), indicating a significant shift of customers from in-person to online purchases.
The regulations explicitly prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavor and the sale of e-cigarette products to minors. They also ban the use of vending machines for such products and require warning labels on packaging. However, the study revealed that one-third of the surveyed stores continued to sell flavored e-cigarette cartridges, and only 83% had implemented age restrictions on sales.
