China’s domestic e-cigarette sales increased by 175% to 11 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) in 2019, outpacing growth in the global market and making China the world’s fifth largest e-cigarette market, the head of China’s industry group said Wednesday in a report.

The global e-cigarette market more than doubled to 231 billion yuan this year, said Ao Weinuo, secretary-general of the Electronic Cigarette Industry Committee of China Chamber of Commerce, at an e-cigarette industry summit held in Shenzhen, the hub of China’s e-cigarette production.

The U.S. remains the largest e-cigarette market, with sales of 110 billion yuan, followed by the U.K., France and Germany, Ao said.

China exports far more e-cigarettes than it consumes domestically. In 2019, China’s exports of e-cigarette products were 43.8 billion yuan, an increase of 52.5% from last year.

China’s regulators noted the recent development of the global an e-cigarette industry and conducted multiple studies, Ao said.

Following other global governments in imposing controls, China issued its first blanket ban on all online sales and marketing of e-cigarettes Nov. 1.

Ao asked the industry to strictly follow marketing rules and improve product labels.

Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com)