Hainan to open two new offshore duty-free shops

People choose products at a duty-free shop in Sanya, South China's Hainan province, on Oct 1, 2022. [Photo/VCG]

Two new offshore duty-free shops have been approved to open in Haikou, the capital of South China's island province of Hainan, raising the number of duty-free shops in the province to twelve, Economic Information Daily reported on Thursday.

The operating area of offshore duty-free shops will be more than doubled from the existing 220,000 square meters to over 500,000 square meters.

The two offshore duty-free shops will be located in Haikou International Duty-free City and Wangfujing International Duty-free Port with operating areas of 191,500 square meters and 102,500 square meters, respectively.

The one in Haikou International Duty-free City is expected to start operation on Oct 28 this year and it will become the world's largest single duty-free shop with nearly one thousand domestic and international leading brands.

The one in Wangfujing International Duty-free Port will start operation in January 2023 in Wanning city, Southeast of Hainan province.

After the opening of the two new offshore duty-free shops, the commercial facilities environment of Hainan offshore duty-free shopping will be improved significantly, which is conducive to attracting more high-end consumer brands.

Meanwhile, the passengers carrying capacity will be improved greatly to provide consumers with better shopping choices and experiences, said Yao Lei, a first-class inspector of Hainan Provincial Department of Commerce.

Hainan's offshore duty-free policy has been implemented for 11 years since its inception in 2011 and the policy has been adjusted eight times, driving the rapid growth of the market.

Data indicates that the sales of Hainan's offshore duty-free shops exceeded 60 billion yuan ($8.3 billion) in 2021, about half of the visitors entered duty-free shops, and one sixth of the visitors shopped.

More tourists travel to Hainan for duty-free shopping, driving the development of various industries including accommodation, catering and transportation.

Meanwhile, sales of duty-free products accounted for half of the province's tourism consumption income and the import of duty-free products accounted for about one third of the province's total import and export, making great contributions to the economic and social development of Hainan.

The opening of another two offshore duty-free shops will inject new vitality into Hainan offshore duty-free shopping, accelerating international synchronization in terms of brand, variety and price, Yao said.