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Hainan’s duty free sales exceed $197 mln in five months under new special program

Some 731 thousand customers visited duty free stores on the island over this period

Passengers shop at the duty free shop at the international terminal of Sanya Phoenix International Airport Yang Guanyu/Xinhua News Agency

Passengers shop at the duty free shop at the international terminal of Sanya Phoenix International Airport

© Yang Guanyu/Xinhua News Agency

HAIKOU /China/, September 8. /TASS/. The volume of sales under a new program which allows to take purchased goods directly from duty-free stores in the southern Chinese province of Hainan has exceeded 1.4 billion yuan (about $197 million) over the last five months, the Hainan International Communication Network (HICN) reported with reference to Haikou City Customs Office data.

As of April 1, 2023, buyers have been able to immediately pick up purchased goods in duty free stores on the island. Before that, it was only possible to pick up their purchases at a pickup point at the airport or order express home delivery outside the province. This option can be used by anyone who visits the island and who has return airline tickets or other means of transportation.

Over the past five months, 731,000 customers visited duty free stores in Hainan and purchased 1.63 million items of various goods, according to official figures. The list of products that can now be obtained directly from duty free stores includes cosmetics, perfumes, sunglasses, clothing, silk scarves, shoes, hats, bags, dry mixes for baby food, confectionery, shaving supplies, sporting goods and a number of others.

Hainan authorities launched a pilot program to create a developed duty free network in April 2011. Duty free stores on the island are in Haikou city, the administrative center of the province, as well as in Sanya and in the coastal town of Boao in Tsunhai district in the northeast of Hainan and in Wanning. There are currently 12 such stores on the island.

In 2022, total sales of duty free stores in Hainan amounted to 48.71 billion yuan ($6.7 billion). In 2021, this figure exceeded 60 billion yuan (about $8.3 billion). This year, the island's authorities expect to reach a sales volume of 80 billion yuan ($11.1 billion).

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