HAIKOU, April 12. /TASS/. The total sales of goods in duty free stores on Hainan in 2021 should exceed 60 billion yuan (about $ 9.15 billion), which is double the figure for the previous year, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday citing the secretary of the provincial party committee Shen Xiaoming.

Sales at Hainan's duty free shops have boomed over the past two years amid measures taken by the authorities to boost consumer demand and increase the individual quota for duty free purchases. In 2019, the corresponding figure reached 15 billion yuan (about $ 2.3 billion).

A pilot program for the development of a chain of duty free shops in China's Hainan was launched by the Chinese government in 2011. Since July 1, 2020, the provincial authorities have increased personal quota from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan (from $ 4,200 to $ 14,200) for purchases in the province's duty free stores. The list of duty free products has also been expanded from 38 to 45 positions. Since February 2, 2021, Hainan has also launched a duty free delivery service to their destination by mail to customers leaving the island.

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