Hainan eyes 60 billion yuan in duty-free shopping sales in 2021

CNSC Sanya International Duty-free Plaza opens on Dec 30, 2020. [Photo/chinanews.com]

China's island province of Hainan will make full use of its preferential policies and strive to realize a total duty-free shopping volume of 60 billion yuan ($9.26 billion) in 2021, according to a government work report released on Jan 24.

The government work report, which was released at the fourth session of the 6th Hainan Provincial People's Congress, states that the province will work on delivery services for tourists, "deposit and pick up" services for locals and tax-free services for imported products.

It also revealed that Hainan will improve its duty-free shop network across the island and provide effective match-making between overseas products and domestic shoppers to achieve a total duty-free shopping volume of 300 billion yuan during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 

According to a recent press conference on Hainan's achievements during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the province realized total duty-free shopping sales of over 32 billion yuan in 2020 and from July to December last year, with average daily sales exceeding 120 million yuan, meaning they more than doubled year-on-year.

Hainan currently has five market entities in the duty-free industry and 10 duty-free shops across the island, including five in Haikou, four in Sanya and one in Qionghai.