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Hainan's duty free sales up by 143.6% in January

Two more duty-free shops have recently opened on Hainan

HAIKOU, February 6. /TASS/. Sales in Hainan's duty free shops in January 2021 amounted to 3.78 billion yuan (about $ 585.5 million), up by 143.6% compared to the same period last year, reported Xinhua citing the Haikou customs.

During this period, about 509,000 customers who purchased 5.11 million items of various products visited the duty free shops located on Hainan. The corresponding indicators increased in annual terms by 29% and 146.6%, respectively.

Two more duty-free shops have recently opened on Hainan. Prior to their opening, there were seven stores on the island in Haikou: two of them are located in the provincial capital, the rest in the resort city of Sanya in the south and in the coastal town of Boao in the Qionghai region in the northeast of the island.

The Chinese government launched a pilot program for the development of a chain of duty free shops on Hainan in 2011. The pandemic led to a slight drop in sales in the first half of 2020, but in the second half of the year there was a rapid increase amid the improvement in the epidemic situation in the country and the influx of Chinese tourists to the province. The increase in sales volumes was also enhanced by an increase from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan (from $ 4,200 to $ 14,200) in July, 2020, the personal quota for purchases in duty free shops in the province. The list of duty free goods was expanded from 38 to 45 items.

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