Hainan duty-free sales expected to hit 4.9 bln USD in 2020

Sanya International Duty-free Shopping Complex. [Photo by Zuo Jianan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Offshore duty-free shops in China's island province of Hainan are expected to rake in 32 billion yuan (about 4.89 billion U.S. dollars) in sales by the end of this year, local authorities said Friday.

The four shops have seen sales total 31.58 billion yuan so far this year, as sales from Dec. 1 to 24 hit 3.71 billion yuan, accounting for 11.7 percent of the total, according to the provincial department of commerce.

The shops have received 10.83 million tourists so far this year, and about 3.4 million customers have purchased 19.06 million items, a jump of 130 percent compared with the same period last year.

From July 2020, the duty-free shopping quota in Hainan was raised to 100,000 yuan per year from the previous 30,000 yuan, while the purchase limitations were significantly cut and more duty-free products were offered.

The duty-free shops have boosted local tourism, created over 1,800 jobs and brought 2.09 billion yuan of tax revenue to Hainan, according to Liu Xiaodong, general manager of the Hainan headquarters of China Duty Free Group, which operates the shops.