On January 9, 2026, China’s top tobacco regulator, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA), published Announcement No. 1 of 20261, officially incorporating nicotine pouches and other “smokeless tobacco products” into its regulatory framework. According to the Announcement, “smokeless tobacco products” refer to tobacco products containing nicotine that are used orally, nasally, or externally without producing smoke, including nicotine pouches (patches, strips), snus, chewing tobacco, tobacco paste, dissolvable tobacco, and snuff.
When China revised the Implementing Regulation of the Tobacco Monopoly Law in late 2021, the language added to the Regulation was that “e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products shall be subject to the relevant provisions concerning cigarettes under the Regulation.” After that, STMA has published numerous regulations regarding e-cigarettes, but the regulation of other novel tobacco products has remained in a somewhat gray area. Now, the Announcement makes it clear that smokeless tobacco products (including nicotine pouches) are “regulated as cigarettes or cut tobacco,” formally putting these products under STMA’s monopoly system. The Announcement also notes that, like other tobacco products, the smokeless tobacco products will be subject to the national policies for “restricted industries,” which means that the related new investments and other activities will be highly restricted. Lastly, the Announcement declares that unlicensed production and sales of smokeless tobacco products are strictly prohibited.
The Announcement represents the latest step in China’s recent intensified regulation of so-called “tobacco-related products.” On December 18, 2025, the General Office of the State Council issued an Opinion2 on “combating tobacco-related illegal activities across the entire supply chain.” The Opinion does not clearly define “tobacco-related products,” but in at least one instance names “tobacco monopoly products, e-cigarettes, and other novel tobacco products” as examples of tobacco-related products. The Opinion calls for “comprehensive strengthening of e-cigarette regulation, with strict crackdowns on illegal production, wholesale, transportation, sales, and export-return activities involving e-cigarettes.” The manufacture and sale of “overwhelmed e-cigarettes” (e-cigarettes containing substances like synthetic cannabinoids) and nicotine-free e-cigarettes will be severely punished. The Opinion for the first time imposes a ban on unlicensed production and sales of tobacco-related products such as snus and nicotine pouches. Notably, the Opinion also requires severe crackdowns on the illegal production and sales of “products resembling tobacco in appearance, usage, and primary function,” such as “hollow cigarettes” (i.e., cigarettes without being filled with cut tobacco), “tea cigarettes,” and “flower cigarettes.”
The Opinion authorizes STMA to monitor developments in tobacco-related products and clarify the attributes and scope of all such products, which we have already seen could broadly capture many types of products, including products such as tea cigarettes that do not contain tobacco or nicotine. Consequently, e-cigarettes and all other “tobacco-related products,” including items previously in a regulatory gray area such as nicotine pouches, will fall under the institutionalized oversight of STMA. It is foreseeable that in the near future, the STMA will progressively introduce various new measures regarding tobacco-related products, leading to greater restrictions on related business activities in China. We will continue to monitor the relevant regulatory developments.
We will discuss this and other global developments as they relate to nicotine products at Keller and Heckman’s 2026 E-Vapor, Nicotine, and Tobacco Law Symposium on May 4-5, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Register here.
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