(Yicai Global) Dec. 3 -- China has brought out new regulations to further manage the e-cigarette market, including requiring firms to get a license.

The State Tobacco Monopoly Administration released a document yesterday to solicit public feedback on the regulations and proposed to set up a new unified national platform to manage e-cigarette transactions.

The document said the aim is to ensure the quality and safety of e-cigarettes and set up a system to trace their production. E-cigarette producers, wholesalers and retailers will also be required to secure a license from the regulator.

E-cigarette makers and brand owners with a license would be able to sell e-cigarettes to wholesalers only via the new platform, according to the document.

Products must conform to national standards and carry warnings on the packaging, it said, adding that e-cigarette sales outlets must not be close to schools and cannot sell to underage buyers or via vending machines.

A higher threshold to enter the e-cigarette industry will benefit leading e-cigarette companies such as Smoore International Holdings, Citic Securities said in a research report.

These firms have strong technology and high market shares both at home and abroad and are likely to benefit from the industry’s rising market penetration rate, the report noted, adding that the new regulations will make the industry more standardized and sustainable in the long run.

Editor: Tom Litting