Currently, most Relz stores are located in China and run by third-parties. The company’s new retail outlets, will be a combination of company-owned stores, and franchised locations.
Relx’s expansion comes in response to the fact that many Chinese e-cigarette brands now need to make revenue from in-store sales, since China has banned the online sales and advertising of e-cigarettes.
Online sales ban
A recent statement by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration and State Administration for Market Regulation, had explained that the online sales ban aims to protect teens from having access to vaping products.
Up to the implementation of this ban, in China, there were no regulations pertaining to the use and production management of e-cigarettes. In 2018, Chinese tobacco regulators had urged the government to regulate the devices in the same way as other tobacco products.
Subsequently, at a 2019 press conference, head of the National Health Commission (NHC) planning department Mao Qunan, had announced that the organization was conducting research on the devices with the aim of regulating accordingly.
“The supervision of electronic cigarettes must be severely strengthened,” he said at the time. The NHC “is working with relevant departments to conduct research on electronic cigarette supervision and we plan to regulate electronic cigarettes through legislation.”
Read Further: Reuters
