Hainan expands scope of offshore duty-free policy for tourists

Tourists visiting Hainan are able to buy more kinds of duty-free items with a higher purchase limit under new measures announced by the Ministry of Finance on January 29th, 2016.

Under the new policy, which goes into effect on Febuary 1st, non-locals of 16 years old or above, before leaving the island by plane, can make duty-free purchases up to the new limit of 16,000 yuan each year with no limits on shopping periods. The current cap is 8,000 yuan.

In addition, the island province provides online duty-free shopping at its two duty-free shops in Haitang Bay of Sanya and Haikou Meilan Airport, meaning that offshore travellers can shop duty free and then pick up their purchases with identity cards and boarding passes at collection points airside at the airport.

The new purchase limit allows tourists to purchase most of the luxury items they desire, and help to boost spending on the resort island.

The China State Council gave Hainan permission to run a trial duty-free program in April 2011 in an effort to make the island a world-class tourist destination by 2020.

By 2015, the island province’s two offshore duty-free stores received around 5.73 million customers, and sales revenue from the offshore duty-free program in Hainan totaled 16.5 billion yuan, according to customs sources.