HAIKOU, October 10. /TASS/. The total sales volume of four Hainan's duty-free stores during the holiday week-end marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China amounted to 391 million yuan (about $ 55.8 million), which is by 62.92% higher than during the same period last year, www.hinews.cn reported with reference to the Haikou customs office.
During the so-called "Golden week", tourists made 84.400 purchases in duty free stores, which ensured a 24.67% increase in sales. According to the representative of the provincial finance department, the measures taken by the authorities and the adjustment of the duty free trade policy on the island made that surge in sales possible.
The buyers are particularly active on holidays, when Hainan is visited by a large number of tourists from mainland China. Tourists usually buy perfumes and watches.
Currently, there are four duty-free shops on Hainan: two of them are located in the provincial capital, Haikou, the rest — in Sanya and the coastal town of Boao.
By 2025, the Chinese authorities set the goal of turning Hainan into an "international center of tourism and consumption." In 2011, there was launched a pilot program for the development of a network of shops duty free.
In the first half of 2019, the revenue of duty-free shops in Hainan increased by 26.5% to 6.6 billion yuan (about $ 960.7 million). From 2012 to 2018, the average annual growth rate of this indicator in the southern Chinese province was 28%, while on average in China it did not exceed 11%. In 2018, Hainan’s duty-free stores sales reached 10.1 billion yuan (about $ 1.47 billion), which accounts for 26% of national revenue.
In 2018, over 76 million Chinese and foreign tourists visited Hainan.