HAIKOU /China/, April 27. /TASS/. The total volume of duty-free sales in the resort city of Sanya in China's southern province of Hainan reached 133.1 billion yuan ($19.2 billion) over 12 years since the program was launched. Sanya Customs Service published this data in the Sanya Daily newspaper.

Over this period the island's duty-free were visited by more than 20.3 million customers who bought a total of 16.4 million different items of goods. Local authorities expect the number of sales to increase, taking into account the lifting of anti-coercive restrictions, the increase in tourist traffic, as well as the upcoming May holidays.

Over the past 12 years, the authorities have repeatedly adjusted the policy on duty-free stores. The quota per capita for purchases in such stores has increased from the original 5,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan (from $724,600 to $14,200). The list of duty-free goods has also been expanded from 18 to 45 items.

Hainan authorities have launched a pilot program to create a developed duty-free network in April 2011. There are duty-free stores on the island in the provincial capital Haikou, the resort of Sanya, as well as in the coastal town of Boao in the Qionghai district in the northeast of Hainan and in Wanning. In total, there are currently 12 such stores on the island.

In 2022, the volume of duty-free sales in Hainan amounted to 48.71 billion yuan ($7.2 billion). In 2021 the figure exceeded 60 billion yuan (about $ 8.9 billion). This year, the island's authorities expect to reach the sales volume of 80 billion yuan ($ 11.9 billion).