User:Kaysen.liu: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

 

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”’RELX”’ (Chinese: 悦刻; pinyin: Yuèkè) is a consumer electronic atomization brand owned by ”’Shenzhen RELX Technology Co., Ltd.”’ (NYSE: RLX). Founded in January 2018 by [[Kate Wang]], the company specializes in the development, design, and manufacturing of e-vapor products. Its parent company, RLX Technology, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2021. As of 2025, the brand holds a significant market share in China’s domestic e-cigarette market, estimated at around 44%.<ref>{{Cite news |title=RELX Technology Continues to Take the Lead, Accounting for 60% of China’s E-cigarette Market Share |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/relx-technology-continues-lead-accounting-140000285.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20191018052703/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/relx-technology-continues-lead-accounting-140000285.html |archive-date=2019-10-18 |access-date=2026-02-04 |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Infobox company

”’RELX”’ is a consumer electronic atomization brand by Shenzhen RELX Technology Co., Ltd.”'(NYSE: RLX). Founded in January 2018 by [[Kate Wang]], the company specializes in the development, design, and manufacturing of e-vapor products. Its parent company, RLX Technology, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2021. As of 2025, the brand holds a significant market share in China’s domestic e-cigarette market, estimated at around 44%.<ref>{{Cite news |title=RELX Technology Continues to Take the Lead, Accounting for 60% of China’s E-cigarette Market Share |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/relx-technology-continues-lead-accounting-140000285.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20191018052703/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/relx-technology-continues-lead-accounting-140000285.html |archive-date=2019-10-18 |access-date=2026-02-04 |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Infobox company

| name = RELX

| name = RELX

| logo = RELX LOGO.png

| logo = RELX LOGO.png

RELX is a consumer electronic atomization brand operated by Shenzhen RELX Technology Co., Ltd., and owned by RLX Technology Inc., a Cayman Islands–incorporated holding company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: RLX). Founded in January 2018 by Kate Wang, the company specializes in the development, design, and manufacturing of e-vapor products. Its parent company, RLX Technology, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in January 2021. As of 2025, the brand holds a significant market share in China’s domestic e-cigarette market, estimated at around 44%.^[1]

RELX was established in January 2018. In June of the same year, the company completed its first round of financing, raising 38 million RMB led by Source Code Capital and IDG. The company expanded rapidly, opening its first flagship store in Shanghai in January 2020.

In January 2021, the parent company, RLX Technology, went public on the NYSE. Following regulatory changes in the domestic market in 2022, the brand shifted its strategic focus towards international expansion, penetrating markets in Southeast Asia and North Asia in 2023, and expanding into Europe by 2024. By the third quarter of 2025, international revenue accounted for over 71% of the company’s total revenue.^[2]

On January 22, 2021, RELX’s parent company, RLX Technology Inc., completed its initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol “RLX”. The company priced its American depositary shares (ADS) at $12 each, above the initial target range, raising approximately $1.4 billion.^[3]

On its first day of trading, the stock price surged by 145.9%, closing at $29.51, which gave the company a market capitalization of nearly $45.8 billion.^[4] The IPO was led by underwriters including Citigroup and China Renaissance. The listing made RLX Technology the first major Chinese e-cigarette company to go public in the United States, occurring amidst a period of rapid growth for the brand prior to the implementation of stricter domestic regulations in China.

Unlike some competitors that rely solely on OEM manufacturing, RELX operates its own research facilities. In 2020, the company established the RELX Life Science Lab to conduct preclinical biological risk assessments, including cytotoxicity and genetic toxicity tests. The laboratory has been accredited by CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment).^[5]

The company’s scientific team has published peer-reviewed papers in journals such as Applied Toxicology, focusing on the impact of e-cigarettes on public health and aerosol toxicology.^[6]

In late 2021, RELX launched WAKA, a subsidiary brand primarily focused on international markets outside of mainland China. Unlike the parent brand’s signature closed-pod systems, WAKA specializes in disposable e-cigarettes, aiming to capture the growing global demand for high-capacity, convenience-oriented vapor products.

The brand gained significant traction in regions such as Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Key products include the WAKA SoPro and WAKA Smash series, which utilize Dual-Mesh coil technology. By positioning WAKA as a distinct entity, RELX has been able to navigate different international regulatory environments and consumer preferences, contributing to the company’s diversification of revenue streams amidst tightening domestic regulations in its home market.

According to RLX Technology’s 2023 financial results, the WAKA brand was introduced to capture market share in the disposable sector.^[7]

RELX products typically function as closed-system, rechargeable pod vaporizers. The devices have received international design recognition. In 2020, the “RELX Infinity” device was awarded the Red Dot Award for Product Design.^[8] In the same year, the device also won the Golden Pin Design Award.

To prevent underage usage, RELX launched the “Guardian Program” in 2019. This initiative includes the deployment of the “Sunflower System” (Project Sunflower), a technology-driven age verification system implemented in retail stores to ensure customers are of legal smoking age. The company states that “not selling to minors” is a primary operational principle.

The brand has been active in intellectual property protection. In 2022, RELX initiated the “Golden Shield Action” to combat counterfeit products. In a notable legal case in January 2022, regulatory authorities ruled that a competitor, Bolr (Boer), infringed on RELX’s design patents, ordering them to cease production and sales of the infringing products.

Since 2022, RELX has operated under a significantly tightening regulatory framework in its primary market, China. In March 2022, the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA) released the Administrative Measures for Electronic Cigarettes, followed by the implementation of the National Standard for Electronic Cigarettes (GB 41700-2022) in October 2022.^[9]

These regulations introduced a mandatory licensing system for production and wholesale, and notably prohibited the sale of flavored e-cigarettes other than tobacco flavors within the domestic market. In response, RELX halted the sale of its non-tobacco flavored products in China and transitioned to a specialized e-cigarette national unified transaction management platform. To mitigate domestic policy risks, the company has since expanded its international presence, focusing on markets with varying regulatory environments in Southeast Asia and Europe.