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Sales at Hainan's duty free stores doubled since July 1 reaching $ 1.8 billion

HAIKOU, November 13. /TASS/. Sales at Hainan's duty free shops grew by 214.1% year-on-year from July to October, to 12.01 billion yuan (about $ 1.79 billion). According to the Haikou Customs Administration, this figure has shown significant growth after increasing quotas for individual purchases since July 1.

During this time, a total of 1.78 million customers visited the province's duty free shops, their number increased by one and a half times compared to the same period last year - by 58.8%. Visitors purchased a total of 12.87 million products which is an increase of 139.7% in annual terms.

Since July 1, the presonal quotas for purchases in duty free shops in the province have been increased from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan (from $ 4,200 to $ 14,200), and the list of duty free goods has been expanded from 38 to 45 positions. The Hainan authorities expect that by the end of 2020, total sales in the province's duty free shops will reach about 30 billion yuan (about $ 4.4 billion).

Currently, there are four duty free shops in the Hainan province: two of them are located in the provincial capital Haikou, and the rest — in Sanya and the coastal town of Boao. A pilot program for the development of a chain of duty free shops on Hainan province was launched by the Chinese government in 2011.

Duty free stores are part of the government's plan to promote international tourism on Hainan. By the end of 2020, it is planned to open three more new duty free shops. The authorities explained the need to increase the number of duty free shops in the province by the growing number of tourists and the high demand for duty free goods. All three new stores will be located in Sanya. One of them will open at the airport, the other two — in the suburbs.

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