Who owns RELX?
RELX is owned by RLX Technology (China, NYSE: RLX).[1]
Evidence: RLX Technology Inc. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-04-23, SEC EDGAR, 23 April 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- RLX Technology Inc. verified
- Owner HQ
- 🇨🇳 China, Shenzhen
- Origin
- 🇨🇳 China, Shenzhen
- Founded
- 2018
- Category
- Tobacco & nicotine › Nicotine alternatives › Heated tobacco & vapes
- Parent ticker
- NYSE: RLX
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About RELX
RELX is the e-vapor brand of RLX Technology, which says it has launched rechargeable closed-system products in China since its inception in 2018. Each is a snap-in cartridge holding e-liquid and atomizer fitted to a battery device. Outside China, RELX products are produced and sold by Relx Inc., a company controlled by the same founder, under a licence to the trademarks held by RLX. The company says its trademarks are registered by its own subsidiaries.
What RLX Technology's annual report says about RELX
Sentences about RELX from RLX Technology's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
Relx Inc. currently operates the production and sale of e-vapor products in markets outside of China under the "RELX" and other brands pursuant to an intellectual property license agreement covering our trademarks and certain proprietary rights for international markets.
The existing laws and regulations prohibiting any exhibition and celebrities' endorsements on e-cigarette products adversely affected our ability to conduct effective advertising activities, distribute promotion materials to our members and community and promote RELX merchants and co-branded products for our operations in China.
We have established the RELX Physiochemistry Lab , which focuses on the assessment and research of e-liquid and aerosol, the RELX Sensory Analysis Lab , which focuses on the evaluation of sensory appeal of e-liquid, and the RELX Bioscience Lab to pursue valuable scientific advances in further understanding and minimizing the health risks associated with e-vapor products.
How often RLX Technology names RELX in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named less often than it was three years earlier.
Ownership timeline of RELX
- Current owner RLX Technology [1] verified
Where RELX sits in RLX Technology
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full RLX Technology ownership tree →
See the full RLX Technology brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by RLX Technology
RLX Technology controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 3 of them in tobacco & nicotine.
Also in tobacco & nicotine
Other brands in heated tobacco & vapes, and who owns them
The 19 brands in heated tobacco & vapes on Brandtree belong to 10 owners. The largest is Charlie's Holdings, with 4; RLX Technology has 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Charlie's Chalk Dust | Charlie's Holdings | 🇺🇸 United States |
| glo | British American Tobacco | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| blu | Imperial Brands | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
| Logic | Japan Tobacco | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| FEELM | Smoore | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong |
| NJOY | Altria | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Ispire | Ispire | 🇺🇸 United States |
| lil | KT&G | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
About the owner: RLX Technology
RLX Technology is a publicly listed company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: RLX.
RLX Technology is a Cayman Islands holding company based in Shenzhen that makes branded e-vapor products, listed on the NYSE as American depositary shares. Its FY2025 annual report says it has sold rechargeable closed-system products in China since its inception in 2018, and that Ms. Ying (Kate) Wang, a co-founder, chairperson and chief executive, controls it. Outside China the RELX and other brands are produced and sold by a separate company, Relx Inc., also controlled by Ms. Wang, under an intellectual property licence covering RLX's trademarks. Operations in China run through a consolidated variable interest entity.
RLX Technology: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇨🇳 RELX and other Chinese brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 319 brands that began in China. 39 of them (12%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; RELX is not one of them.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of RELX?
The parent company of RELX is RLX Technology, a publicly listed company headquartered in China.
Is RELX Chinese?
Yes. RELX originated in China in 2018 and its owner, RLX Technology, is also headquartered in China.
Is RELX still owned by RLX Technology?
Yes. As of 11 October 2026, RELX is still owned by RLX Technology. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] RLX Technology Inc. Annual Report on Form 20-F filed 2026-04-23 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 20-F, published 23 April 2026; retrieved 3 October 2026.
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