Photo/Shetuwang 

Feb. 25 (NBD) -- Juul Labs, U.S. leading electronic cigarette company, forecasts revenue of 3.4 billion U.S. dollars for 2019, almost triple what it generated last year, Bloomberg reported last Friday citing a source who was briefed on the numbers. Besides, the week before Christmas of last year, Juul Labs gave out 2 billion U.S. dollars in bonuses to 1,500 employees.

Good performance of Juul Labs is an epitome of the heated growth of the electronic cigarette or E-cigarette market against the background of the sliding world tobacco market resulting from intensified tobacco control and rising health awareness of the public.

E-cigarettes use battery-powered cartridges to produce a flavored vapor that often contains nicotine.

Data showed that global E-cigarette sales amounted to 12.054 billion U.S. dollars, representing an year over year increase of 18.5 percent, and the metric for the year in the Chinese market stood at 4.009 billion yuan (597.2 million U.S. dollars), up 25.3 percent year on year.

The rocketing E-cigarette sector has drawn a whopping amount of venture capital in China. According to incomplete statistics, 10 E-cigarette projects landed financing from star investors such as IDG Capital and ZhenFund in 2018, and two E-cigarette companies completed financing of 10 million yuan (1.5 million U.S. dollars) and 50 million yuan (7.4 million U.S. dollars), respectively, in the beginning of 2019.

Wu Shichun, founding partner of Plum Ventures, said on a social platform that E-cigarette is the most sought-after entrepreneurial target.

On January 27, the E-cigarette brand "LINX" began to take orders. The brand, which has secured two rounds of financing, is jointly launched by Zhang Jinyuan, chairman of Tongdaodashu, a Shenzhen-based pan-entertainment cultural platform centering on the 12 zodiac signs, and other founders of top new media organizations.

On January 20, Cai Yuedong, former founder of Tongdaodashu, announced commencement of sale of his "YOOZ" electronic cigarettes. The first-day turnover reached 5 million yuan (744,812.4 U.S. dollars).

On January 15, Smartisan Technology's founder Luo Yonghao revealed that the company's former core member, Zhu Xiaomu set up an E-cigarette brand "FLOW".

It's worth noting that while European and American countries consume most of the electronic cigarettes, over 90 percent of the vaporizers are produced by enterprises located in the Pearl River Delta region.

There are around 70 E-cigarette companies which are comparatively well-known in China. Listed enterprises Intretech Inc. and Jinjia Group witnessed substantial growth in their operation revenue from the vaping business during the 2014-2017 period.

As vaporizers and electronic cigarettes flood the market, manufacturers have targeted youths with flavored nicotine cartridges wrapped in colorful packaging, which has aroused widespread public concerns.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released in 2014 that 45 percent of middle school students had heard of electronic cigarettes. According to the FDA data, E-cigarette use among high-school and middle-school kids rose 77 percent and 50 percent, respectively, from 2017 to 2018.

Last August, the State Administration for Market Regulation and China Tobacco, jointly issued a circular to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

When interviewed by NBD, Zhi Xiuyi, the deputy head of the Chinese Association of Tobacco Control, said that commercials professing E-cigarette to be "less harmful" and "non-addictive" misguide the young people and make those who don't smoke tobacco start vaping. Once teenagers develop dependence on nicotine and increased craving for cigarettes, they will eventually turn to tobacco, Zhi noted.

Zhi told NBD that China has not yet passed a tobacco control law on the national level, but several local codes and regulations have already been enforced. "We (the association) are pushing for national tobacco control legislation, and for cities that already have tobacco control in place, we urge them to bring vaping in public places under regulation," Zhi added.

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn