Consider e-cigarettes only if you really can't quit otherwise, and don't touch them if you don't already smoke

Cost

The device plus pods costs a few dozen to a few hundred CNY a month. In China only tobacco-flavored ones can be bought, and only in stores that hold a tobacco monopoly retail license (烟草专卖零售许可证).

What you get

A continuously updated review included 80 randomized trials with 29861 people. Compared with nicotine replacement therapy, nicotine e-cigarettes raised the quit rate by about 61% (RR 1.61, 95% CI 1.23–2.12, the plausible range; high-certainty evidence, 11 trials, 4114 people). In absolute terms, that is about 4 more people quitting per 100 (1 to 7 more). The share with serious adverse events was about the same in the two groups (risk difference 0.01, 95% CI −0.01 to 0.02, moderate-certainty evidence). Compared with behavioral support alone or no support, the gain was about 75% (RR 1.75, 95% CI 1.39–2.20, low-certainty evidence).

Notes

Disputed. The World Health Organization does not recommend e-cigarettes as a way to quit, because long-term safety data are lacking and they can lead young people to start using nicotine. The UK, by contrast, has included them in its quit-smoking services. China has not banned e-cigarettes outright, but regulates them tightly, with the rules in the Measures for the Administration of Electronic Cigarettes (《电子烟管理办法》). Only tobacco flavors may be sold; fruit flavors and refillable ones that let you add your own liquid may not. They may only be bought in physical stores holding a tobacco monopoly retail license (烟草专卖零售许可证). Selling them on any site, online shop or social app other than the national unified e-cigarette trading platform is illegal. Sales to minors are also banned. So fruit-flavored e-cigarettes that can still be bought come through illegal channels and are outside regulation. The “head-rush vapes” laced with synthetic cannabinoids leaked out this way; see §22.4 (don't accept pods handed to you). The products tested in the review were all regulated nicotine products; liquids of unknown origin are not covered. As for order, try §2.3 (quit-smoking medicines) first, where the evidence is firmer and the cost lower.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. Lindson N, Livingstone-Banks J, Butler AR, et al. (2026). Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 8, CD010216. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub11
2. 国家烟草专卖局 (2022). 电子烟管理办法（国家烟草专卖局公告 2022 年第 1 号，2022 年 5 月 1 日施行）第十八条：从事电子烟零售业务，要向烟草专卖行政主管部门申领烟草专卖零售许可证。第二十二条：「禁止向未成年人出售电子烟产品。」第二十三条第二款：「任何个人、法人或者其他组织不得通过本办法规定的电子烟交易管理平台以外的信息网络销售电子烟产品、雾化物和电子烟用烟碱等。」第二十六条：「禁止销售除烟草口味外的调味电子烟和可自行添加雾化物的电子烟。」. http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2022/content_5697988.htm

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 2, tip 6. This section is about health and medicines. It is general information, not a substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis or prescription. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer