Liu Qiuming Steps Down as Jirui Vape Chairman, Joins Startup BLESS

On August 28, news emerged that Liu Qiuming, chairman of Jirui Vape under Borden, will officially resign soon and join the new e-cigarette service startup BLESS.

Liu Qiuming is a veteran in the Chinese e-cigarette industry, born in 1976 in Suining, Sichuan. He graduated from North University of China in 1999 with a major in plastic forming technology and equipment, and after graduation, he entered Jiangnan Mould Group, and in 2000, he joined BBK Group.

Liu began to engage in e-cigarette-related businesses as early as 2006, leaving BBK in 2009 to join Jirui full-time to work on e-cigarettes. Subsequently, Jirui's first e-cigarette manufacturing factory was established in Huizhou, focusing on the research, production, and sales of e-cigarettes.

Liu Qiuming worked at BBK for nine years, starting as an engineer, later managing quality, engineering, R&D, and procurement, eventually becoming a regional manager. He personally experienced the significant impact of patents on businesses, so when he was at Jirui, he did not want to merely be a simple OEM but aimed to learn from Foxconn to become a patent-holding OEM.

As a result, Jirui began to focus on R&D and patent invention. As of January 2019, Jirui Technology holds 43% of the patents in the e-cigarette industry.

In a 2016 ranking of domestic technology companies' PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications, Jirui ranked eighth domestically and 95th internationally, with ZTE in first place and Huawei in second.

By 2013, as Jirui developed, Liu Qiuming wanted to push Jirui towards the public capital market. In 2014, it successfully passed the review of the U.S. SEC and prepared for an IPO on the U.S. stock market. However, at that time, the U.S. market was not optimistic about Chinese concept stocks, and the valuation was not within Liu Qiuming's expected range. Additionally, considering the risk of collective lawsuits after listing on NASDAQ, Jirui ultimately decided not to go public.

At that time, the disclosed data showed that total revenue for the first nine months of 2014 was $87.57 million, with U.S. business accounting for $80.02 million, or 90%, EU business accounting for 8.5%, and Asian business accounting for 0.2%, with a net profit of $18.41 million.

In 2016, Borden announced a total acquisition of Jirui for 750 million RMB, thus Liu Qiuming and the company joined the Borden Group.

During his three years at Borden, Liu Qiuming led Jirui to complete patent protection and technological breakthroughs for low-temperature tobacco in both hardware and software. However, this also caused him to miss out on the lucrative overseas big tobacco opportunities, which may be Liu Qiuming's biggest regret, but at the same time, he created the opportunity for the explosive growth of disposable vapes in 2019.

In August 2019, Liu Qiuming completed the lock-in agreement made with Borden at the time of the acquisition of Jirui and decided to seek new opportunities in the Chinese e-cigarette industry.

Born in 1976, Liu Qiuming is in his prime, but in terms of experience in the e-cigarette industry, he is an absolute veteran, having almost fully experienced the history of the development of e-cigarettes in China, making him a living fossil of the Chinese e-cigarette industry.

The old horse Liu Qiuming, what are your next plans?

Liu Qiuming revealed to Blue Hole that after leaving Borden, he will join BLESS, the first service platform in the e-cigarette industry, which is also invested by Borden, to continue serving the industry.

Blue Hole New Consumption had another chat with Liu Qiuming and presents "Ten Questions for Liu Qiuming."

1. Why did you leave Jirui?

Liu Qiuming: Jirui has completed the construction of its engine and can innovate and develop independently. Production, R&D, and sales have entered the fast lane. With one of Jirui's founders, Xiang Zhiyong, continuing to command, I can take time to serve the entire Chinese e-cigarette industry, solidifying the industry's content to be healthier.

2. Do you have any regrets from founding Jirui over a decade ago to selling it in 2016 and now truly leaving?

Liu Qiuming: Jirui is like my own child; when it truly flies away from me, there is always a sense of loss, regret, and emotion, akin to a parent's feelings for their child.

3. What did you gain during your three years at Borden?

Liu Qiuming: During these three years, I received personal guidance from Chairman Wang Mingfan of Borden Group. In my heart, he is like a teacher and brother, allowing me to make significant progress in management, which is incomparable to anything else.

4. What did you lose during your three years at Borden?

Liu Qiuming: There were certainly losses, but the gains far outweighed the losses. Mainly, I gained skills and a mindset upgrade, which makes any losses negligible.

5. How do you view the landscape and position of Jirui and Borden in the Chinese e-cigarette industry?

Liu Qiuming: Jirui holds the most patents in the industry, totaling over 4,000, forming the strongest barrier in the e-cigarette industry. Additionally, we have deep cooperation with 13 domestic tobacco companies, possessing strong policy insight and potential domestic market momentum. Borden is a leading company in the Asian flavor and fragrance industry, with numerous natural flavor extraction bases, laying a strong foundation for the future development of e-cigarette e-liquids. Borden also has significant industry inclusivity and will undoubtedly become a leading service platform in the e-cigarette industry in the future.

6. Do you have any non-compete agreements with Borden or Jirui, preventing you from engaging in e-cigarette entrepreneurship for several years? Or from doing supply chain work or e-cigarette branding?

Liu Qiuming: I have signed a non-compete agreement, and I cannot independently engage in e-cigarette R&D and manufacturing for 15 years, but I can serve Borden and its invested companies.

7. How do you evaluate your career in the e-cigarette industry?

Liu Qiuming: I am a driving force in the e-cigarette industry and will continue to serve the healthy development of the industry at the e-cigarette service platform invested by Borden Group.

8. How do you view the current development of the Chinese e-cigarette industry?

Liu Qiuming: You can refer to my e-cigarette predictions made at industry forums in the past, which have mostly been realized.