On the 9th of September, Chinese websites JD.com Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Tmall, began selling Juul vaporizers, along with refill pods in flavors such as mint, Virginia tobacco, mango and creme. However by Tuesday 17th, the items had been removed from both websites.
“While Juul products are not currently available on e-commerce Web sites in China, we look forward to continued dialogue with stakeholders so that we can make our products available again,” said Juul spokeswoman, Victoria Davis in a statement.
Juul keeps expanding
“While Juul products are not currently available on e-commerce Web sites in China, we look forward to continued dialogue with stakeholders so that we can make our products available again.”
As Juul Labs aims to keep expanding internationally, last month, undisclosed investors put in a total of $325 million into the world’s most infamous e-cigarette manufacturer.
The investment, which was made known through a regulatory filing, indicated that despite all the negative press that Juul is receiving, the company is still going strong. Last month, Juul Labs opened its first store in Toronto’s west-end, marking the manufacturer’s first brick-and-mortar location in North America, and as in most countries, Juul has emerged to be Canada’s leading vaping brand.
New e-cig regulations underway
Meanwhile, China is planning to impose new e-cigarette regulations, in a bid to prevent a further increase in smoking rates, through a “gateway” addiction.
At a press conference held last August, head of the National Health Commission (NHC) planning department, Mao Qunan, said that the organization is conducting research on the devices with the aim of regulating accordingly. “The supervision of electronic cigarettes must be severely strengthened,” he said. The NHC “is working with relevant departments to conduct research on electronic cigarette supervision and we plan to regulate electronic cigarettes through legislation.”
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