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44 tobaccoasia / Issue 4, 2015 (September/October) Tobacco Asia The ONLY magazine written and edited for the Asia regional tobacco industry. Read and trusted by industry professionals around the world. Subscribe to Subscribe Now to Tobacco Asia and get a complete view of the tobacco industry. Rates 1 year $45 2 years $80 3 years $105 Published 5 times a year in full English and Chinese versions. To subscribe visit: tobaccoasia.com or email info@octobermultimedia.com October Inter Co. Ltd. Vanit Building 2, Room 1403A 1126/2 New Petchburi Rd, Bangkok 10400 THAILAND Tel +66 22 55 66 25, Fax +66 26 55 22 11 www.tobaccoasia.com Ling Chengxing said, "In keeping with the trend of development of international tobacco markets, great importance shall be attached to developing new types of tobacco products, which shall be de- fined as a strategic, overall, and long-term major project concerning sustainable development of the tobacco industry." but without burning. For example, China Tobacco Hubei, China Tobacco Henan, China Tobacco Shandong, and Shanghai Tobacco Group, are all sponsoring research and development of new types of tobacco products with self-owned intel- lectual property rights, and have all made certain achievements. Although the existing tobacco monopoly law in China is not yet binding to electronic cigarettes, they are expected to be included into the scope of regulation by the law in future revisions or amend- ments. Moreover, with enactment of judicial in- terpretations by China's Supreme Court, Chinese electronic cigarette manufacturers are expected to usher in a round of standardization-oriented regu- lation. As far as the present situation is concerned, Chinese electronic cigarette manufacturers now face certain policy risks and operational risks, as a result of uncertainty of regulatory policies. If electronic cigarettes are defined as medical products, it means that the consumer group and market for electronic cigarette manufacturers will become extremely lim- ited. Meanwhile, if electronic cigarettes are defined as tobacco products, they may be subject to limita- tion by the system of State monopoly, and the many small and medium-sized manufacturers with a weak capacity will likely be phased out. No matter where their way out lies, Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers will all have to take pre- cautions in the future. At the 2015 national tobacco science and tech- nology work conference held in Beijing, develop- ment of new types of tobacco products was de- fined as one of the two major strategic tasks of the tobacco industry for tobacco science and technol- ogy development in the future. There have been more and more signs indicat- ing that the State increasingly supports and encour- ages development of new types of tobacco prod- ucts while provincial-level China Tobacco regional industrial corporations are all actively sponsoring research and development of electronic cigarettes and new types of tobacco products with heating "...Chinese electronic cigarette manufacturers have always kept a low profile... and mainly engage in export trade."