In huge blow, China snuffs out Juul

Juul Labs’ sales have been halted in China, days after the startup launched its products in the world’s biggest tobacco market.

The e-cigarette maker’s sleek vaporizers went on sale early last week online on both JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding’s Tmall, with pods in flavors such as mint, Virginia tobacco, mango and cream. But by the end of the week, they had been taken off both e-commerce sites, leaving Juul at a loss as to why, according to sources.

The San Francisco company said it remains committed to providing adult smokers in China with an alternative to combustible cigarettes. “We look forward to continued dialogue with stakeholders so that we can make our products available again,” a Juul spokeswoman said.

Juul is pushing hard to expand around the world as it faces pressure in the US, where the FDA last week said it intends to pull most ecigarettes off the market over concerns about teen vaping.

Asia is a priority for the company, Juul CEO Kevin Burns has said, citing high rates of cigarette smoking there. There are more than 300 million cigarette smokers in China, where 59 percent of men smoke, according to the World Health Organization. Juul aims to convert some of those to vapers.

Roughly 2.4 trillion combustible cigarettes were sold in the country last year, almost all of them made by China National Tobacco, a stateowned monopoly.

Both of the Chinese dealers declined to say whether they were asked by the Chinese regulator, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, to remove Juul’s products. The administration couldn’t be reached for comment after business hours Tuesday.