Chinese cannabidiol storms global hemp market

In the unregulated Ukrainian market of CBD products, the vast majority sell goods that invest heavily in marketing and advertising, but which do not have the therapeutic effects indicated on the package.

The production of various types of products containing cannabidiol (CBD / CBD) in its composition is rapidly developing around the world. The market for sales of cosmetics , food , health products, electronic liquids, which include CBD, has developed exponentially in the last few years. In the United States alone, the market value of products containing cannabidiol is estimated at almost $ 20 billion. Since 2017, China has been actively using its existing capabilities (manufacturing, financial, lobbying) to gain a position in the global CBD market. 

In a number of areas of modern hemp breeding, China can already be described as a country that has won a leading position. This primarily concerns hemp markets associated with fiber processing . For example, China is considered a global leader in the production and sales of textile and knitwear .

In the past few years, the widespread dissemination of data on the therapeutic properties of cannabidiol on global information platforms has shifted the focus of interest from consumers and, accordingly, manufacturers to the manufacture of products containing drug-free cannabinoids. Such trends have led to the fact that despite the fact that China currently prohibits marketing, as well as the use of CBD on its territory, regardless of the mechanism of its use ( dietary supplements , pharmacology, cosmetics , food ), the government does not prohibit invest significant financial resources in the CBD industry. In particular, in 2017, Hanman Investment became the first Chinese company to receive permits allowing it to grow about 650 hectares of hemp in Yunnan province (only in this province hemp is grown on lands commensurate with sown areas throughout Europe ) and “start” capacity for extracting cannabidiol from cultivated cannabisa. One of the main goals with which the above-mentioned production facilities opened was to promote China in the market of CBD products abroad, primarily CBD oil, as well as crystals. Since the launch of production facilities in China, the group has subsidiaries in the United States and Canada .

The peculiarities of the Chinese financial market indicate that in those cases when conditions for “extreme profitability” are created in certain sectors of the economy, the country's production and financial capabilities are practically unlimited. That is why cheap Chinese CBD products have flooded the hemp market worldwide . At the same time, a huge number of CBD products from China, for the most part, do not meet a number of requirements of economically developed countries in terms of quality, safety of use, etc. For example, a company initiated in the United States to check Chinese products, which include cannabidiol, which are present on the market, shows that 70% of them contain chemicals harmful to the health of consumers (glyphosate, bisphenol A, etc.).

Commentary of the Ukrainian Technical Hemp Association

In the national market, there is dominance primarily of Chinese products, which include cannabidiol. Given the cost of drugs made using plant cannabidiol, as well as the purchasing power of the population of our country, the vast majority of CBD products on the Ukrainian market include synthetic cannabidiol. In addition to the fact that companies involved in the sale of these products do not have the necessary certificates for this, synthetic cannabidiol is inherently neuro- and cardiotoxic, i.e. causes irreparable harm to the human body. It can be stated that in the unregulated Ukrainian market of CBD products, the vast majority of products are sold that invest heavily in marketing and advertising, but which do not have the therapeutic effects indicated on the package.