According to China’s southern Hainan Province’s Department of Commerce, the province saw a whopping daily revenue of 340 million yuan (about $48.37 million) in sales at the island’s eleven duty-free stores on November 11, also known as “Double 11”, the biggest shopping festival in China. Total sales between November 1 to 11 grew 3% year on year to nearly 2.22 billion yuan (about $315.25 million).

To counteract the adverse impact of the recent outbreak of Covid-19 and boost consumer spending in the sector, local authorities have brought in more premium domestic and international brands as well as handed out quite a few shopping vouchers to offer a better experience to buyers from China and around the world during this period. A six-month-long duty-free shopping festival also began on the island on June 28.

The increases in sales volumes can be attributed to the recent opening of Haikou International Duty-Free City, the world’s largest free-standing duty-free mall. The store’s total sales to date have topped 358 million yuan (about $50.93 million).

Aerial photo shows the Haikou International Duty-Free City, which opened on October 28, raising the total number of duty-free shopping stores in Hainan to eleven. (Photo: Chen Yuancai / Hainan Daily)

Shoppers in the beauty section of the newly opened Haikou International Duty-Free City. (Photo: Zhang Mao / Hainan Daily)

Now with the opening of the new duty-free mall, the total operating area of the duty-free shops in the province has increased to over 500,000 square meters. That’s not all. Wangfujing Group — one of the largest domestic retailing groups in China — is expected to open its first duty-free flagship store in Hainan's Wanning City in January, adding another 102,500 square meters to the total duty-free shopping space on the island.

The continuing popularity of duty-free shopping in the province is also thanks to the many preferential policies that support the industry and have made it a pillar of Hainan tourism.