Offshore duty-free sales in China's Hainan likely to double in 2021: official

Customers visit a duty-free shop in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 31, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Offshore duty-free sales in China's southern island province of Hainan are expected to double in 2021 for the second year in a row, as fine-tuned favorable policies continue to draw more consumers, an official said Monday.

The island's offshore duty-free sales are likely to exceed 60 billion yuan (about 9.15 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up from 30 billion yuan last year, which had doubled from 15 billion yuan in 2019, Shen Xiaoming, Party chief of Hainan, told a press conference.

Hainan has vowed to build itself into an international tourism consumption center. The province has increased the annual tax-free shopping quota per person from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan starting from July 1, 2020.

The categories of duty-free goods have also been expanded from 38 to 45, with electronic products such as mobile phones and laptops added to the duty-free list.