(Yicai Global) March 12 -- Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei, coined as "China's Silicon Valley," is turning into an epicenter of the emergent electronic cigarette sector. 

Nearly 10 e-cigarette retailers, including Flow, Wel, Yooz, Moti, Trymix, Goin and Apoc, have emerged in the city's eastern district in the past three months, Chinanews reported. 

Shenzhen houses 500 e-cigarette firms, or 13 percent of all domestic players, being the most central location for them. About 80 percent of these companies are small ones with less than 50 employees. Building a brand takes only about CNY5 million (USD744,660), according to the report.

The reason for the entrepreneurial boom is that market penetration so far is about 0.6 percent, and the sector attracts top capital investment, a founder of one related company told Chinanews.

The number of e-cigarette consumers in China reached over 7.3 million in 2017, with sales of CNY4 billion (USD597 million). Some 90 percent of the products were exported. 

The new field has attracted celebrities. Cai Yuedong, the founder of Uncle Tongdao, a WeChat official account about star signs, launched Yooz with He Chang, the founder of fast food chain Huangtaiji. Zhu Xiaomu, mobile phone maker Smartisan Technology's former core member, is behind Flow. 

Editor: Emmi Laine