HAIKOU, February 19. /TASS/. Hainan's biggest duty free store in Snaya will open following a halt in trade amid coronavirus outbreak, reported the local department for tourism, culture, TV and radio broadcasting and sports.
According to the authorities, the duty free store will open on Thursday morning and will work from 11:00 to 18:00 local time.
"The decision was made in accordance with the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council's instructions on restoring the companies' working hours <...> in order to provide better services to tourists," the authorities said in a statement.
The department noted that the store management took all necessary measures to reduce the risks the spread of pneumonia in China. In addition, customers will get discounts on best-selling purchases. "This is being done in order to stabilize consumption, to boost current trade potential," the statement reads.
The Sanya duty free store was visited by 2-3 million people every month before the coronavirus outbreak. According to official statistics, in 2018, sales in Hainan duty free shops reached 10.1 billion yuan (about $ 1.47 billion), which is about 26% of the corresponding national figure. In 2019, sales increased by more than 34%, reaching 13.61 billion yuan ($ 1.97 billion).
In late December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak caused by the COVID-19 virus (previously known as 2019-nCoV) was reported in China’s city of Wuhan, an economic and industrial megacity with a population of 12 million people. The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. According to the latest reports, China has confirmed over 74,100 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus. The virus’ death toll has hit more than 2,000, yet more than 14,300 patients have recovered from the disease.