Hainan’s duty-free sales soar 151% during Spring Festival

According to Hainan provincial department of commerce, duty-free sales at ten offshore duty-free shops in south China’s island resort province reached 1.94 billion yuan from January 31 to February 6, up 156 percent year on year. The number of shoppers totaled more than 300,000, up 138 percent year on year.

Hainan‘s duty-free shops reported a total turnover of 2.13 billion yuan (about $335 million US) during the Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of 151 percent, according to the department officials.

Three more duty-free stores opened last year in Hainan, raising the total number to 10. Hainan’s duty-free shops host more than 720 brands in a total shopping area of 220,000 square meters.

Since July 1, 2020, Hainan has raised its annual tax-free shopping quota from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person. The duty-free purchase limit for cosmetics has been raised from 12 items to 30 items.

China released a master plan in June 2020 to build the island province into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Hainan has grown into an attractive shopping destination for domestic consumers.

Hainan is the smallest and southernmost province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. Hainan Island, the largest and most populous island in China, makes up the vast majority (97%) of the province.

“Hainan”, the name of the island and the province, literally means “south of the sea”, reflecting its position south of the Qiongzhou Strait, which separates it from Guangdong’s Leizhou Peninsula and the rest of the Chinese mainland.

Hainan is known for its tropical climate, beach resorts and forested, mountainous interior.

The southern city of Sanya has many beaches that range from 22km-long Sanya Bay to crescent Yalong Bay and its luxury hotels.

Outside Sanya, the hilly hiking trails of Yanoda Rainforest Cultural Tourism Zone pass over suspension bridges and by waterfalls.