14 duty-free items packed up and mailed to shoppers

The first batch of 14 offshore duty-free commodities were packed up and mailed from Haikou on Feb 4, sent by air to shoppers who had previously left the island province of Hainan.

On Feb 2, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation issued a joint statement announcing new duty-free shopping methods which included "mail and delivery" shopping.

A shopper surnamed Hu, who often travels between Hainan and the mainland, said the new policy makes it more convenient for shoppers, as they no longer need to go to the pick-up areas at airports in advance, and neither do they have to worry about buying large items.

The China Post Hainan Branch is the first company in Hainan to offer mailing services for this novel duty-free shopping method. To ensure the smooth implementation of the new policy, the company has rolled out various reforms in areas such as delivery charges, insurance fee design, system interfaces, processing timeliness, item delivery and a system which can share information with customs and tax-free shops. It started delivery tests of 3,500 packages in October last year.

Duty-free spirits on sale at a store in Hainan. [Photo/hndnews.cn]