China's double standards as 'vape valley' powers industry

Beijing tightens domestic rules even as country makes 90% of the world's vapes

- Michelle Ng

On a humid autumn afternoon, Mr Jimmy Yan was pacing the floor of a small workshop, weaving between stacks of brightly coloured vape shells and a row of workers hunched over an inspection line.

The 34-year-old factory manager was paying extra attention that day, as an American vape distributor had placed its first order for 21,000 units ahead of the Christmas peak period.

His factory had caught a lucky break, as a larger plant that usually manufactured for the American client recently went bust.

"When the big fish is gone, the small fishes get their chances," he said with a chuckle, as he watched workers spray paint and inspect pink, blue and yellow casings each shade corresponding to a different flavour.

The cases would later be assembled with batteries, control boards, vape oil and pods for the final product.

"It's their first order so we must leave a good impression. Only then will they come back," Mr Yan told The Straits Times.

For nearly eight hours on a day in late October, this reporter followed him as he shuttled between his vendors in several factories and tiny workshops, some no bigger than a school classroom and tucked inside nondescript industrial buildings with no signboards.

For Mr Yan, the churn never stops.

His rush to fulfil the American order reflects a global demand that has turned southern city Shenzhen into China's so-called vape valley, the world's vape engine powering a multi-billion-dollar industry.

By most industry estimates, China makes nearly 90 per cent of the world's vapes, its dominance concentrated in manufacturing powerhouse Shenzhen and its surrounding cities.

Countries such as the US, Britain, Vietnam and Malaysia produce vapes, but at much smaller scales, and often rely on Chinese components.