Standardization of the Electronic Cigarette Industry in China

The China Standardization Magazine Co., Ltd is jointly sponsored by the General Administration of Market Supervision of China, the China National Institute of Standardization, and the China Association for Standardization. The company publishes five national-level professional journals, which include China Standardization, China Standardization (English), Standard Science, Standard Life, and Product Safety and Recall. These journals cover a wide range of topics related to policy, development trends, research achievements, hot topics, theories and practices, and cultural aspects of standardization both domestically and internationally.

On March 20, 2023, a journal published an article titled "Current Status and Suggestions for Standardization of Electronic Cigarettes" by Ms. Jiang Danting, an expert from Fuzhou IoT Open Lab Ltd.

Image source: Cover page of the 3rd edition of "China Standardization" published in 2023, featuring an article on the standardization status and proposals for electronic cigarettes.

The summary of this academic paper is as follows:

Background overview: The main business model for Chinese e-cigarette companies is OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), in which they develop and manufacture products according to the contract commissioned by the original company, using their trademark, and sold or operated through cooperation; also known as "contract manufacturing" or "rebranding". Approximately 85% of e-cigarette brands in the US are manufactured by Chinese companies. The Baoan district of Shenzhen has 14,000 companies involved in the e-cigarette supply chain. While e-cigarettes have rapidly developed since their introduction, quality, technology, safety, and market regulation issues have sparked controversy. With the issuance of China's "Electronic Cigarette Management Regulations" and mandatory national standards for e-cigarettes, the regulatory trend in China has become clear, and e-cigarette companies are accelerating their foray into overseas markets.

This article examines China's position in the global electronic cigarette industry and outlines the country's current regulatory and standardization landscape. Recommendations are proposed on how standardization can promote the development of China's electronic cigarette industry and facilitate international trade.

Research Team: The author of this article is Ms. Jiang Danting, Secretary General of the Fujian Standardization Association. She is employed at Fuzhou IoT Open Laboratory Co., Ltd. where she serves as a standardization engineer for the Standard Research Center. Her research focuses on studying the quality of IoT products and the development of standards for their use.

The FIoT-LAB in Fuzhou, China is a newly developed research and development institute established through a partnership between the Fuzhou municipal government, the Mawei district government, the China Electronics Standardization Institute, and the Shanghai New Micro-Tech Group. Serving as a public service platform for the internet of things (IoT), it aims to provide one-stop industrial services and build an ecosystem by integrating technology research and development, standards, testing and certification. By recruiting an international professional team and adopting advanced operation and management models, the FIoT-LAB will empower IoT enterprises with common technologies and knowledge to accelerate IoT industry development and create an IoT industry ecosystem.

Currently, the laboratory testing center has obtained the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) certification and the China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) certification as a inspection and testing institution. They have collaborated with Huawei to build the first 5G industry service platform, conduct integrated verification of vertical industry solutions, explore 5G innovative application solutions in scenarios, accelerate the promotion of 5G business scale, and promote the digital transformation of the industry.

Image credit: Official website of Fuzhou IoT Open Lab, "About Us - Laboratory Introduction".

Thirdly, the standardization of electronic cigarettes can be divided conceptually into government-led standards and market-led standards. Additionally, there is a third category of "de facto standards" that are determined by controlling the market's dominance in terms of technology. As of September 2022, there are two national standards, six industry standards, one local standard, seven association standards, and approximately 710 enterprise electronic cigarette product standards in the field of electronic cigarettes.

Fourth, research findings: Increasing the vitality of group-standardized electronic cigarette products has a strong "innovative" attribute. As manufacturers continue to research and innovate, patent protection becomes increasingly important. It is recommended that efforts be made to incorporate patent technology into group standards, which would benefit negotiations in forming a patent pool sharing mechanism.

Currently, the global electronic cigarette industry is highly concentrated in the Bao'an district of Shenzhen, due to the competitive advantages of industrial clusters. This presents a certain advantage for China to establish competitive standards or international standards for the electronic cigarette industry. The development of electronic cigarette industry clusters is conducive to tapping into the huge potential of demand-side cooperation and integration. Therefore, demand-side market forces should be effectively translated into standard advantages through the implementation of demand-oriented standard strategies.

Businesses in the electronic cigarette industry cluster are advised to reduce the risk of overseas expansion by offering risk analysis of foreign policies, including overseas regulatory policies, cultural and consumer habit differences, certification and energy efficiency labeling requirements, product lifespan testing requirements, and quality requirements for key components. To establish a competitive advantage when expanding overseas, it is recommended to strengthen communication channels with target sales countries and form a larger competitive advantage through a collaborative approach.

Conclusion: Currently, the region of Shenzhen in China is the main center for global electronic cigarette manufacturing, with demand for the industry primarily coming from overseas markets, resulting in an industry chain pattern focused on international markets. With the support of domestic regulatory policies, the electronic cigarette industry has entered a stage where there are laws and regulations to follow and long-term development prospects are more stable and reliable. Additionally, we should fully leverage the advantages of industrial cluster development, accelerate innovation-driven development, enhance the ability to respond to uncertainties in overseas policies, improve product quality and brand competitiveness, and strive to gain greater discourse power in the development of electronic cigarette standards.

References:

Standardization and Recommendations for Electronic Cigarettes

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