China's Hainan eyes 100b yuan of duty-free sales in 2022

HAIKOU -- China's island province of Hainan has set itself the target of over 100 billion yuan ($15.8 billion) in total sales from its duty-free shops in 2022, according to the government work report delivered Friday at the annual session of the provincial people's congress.

Three more duty-free shops opened last year in Hainan, raising the total number to 10. The province's duty-free shops raked in 60.2 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 84 percent year-on-year.

Wang Xuan, deputy general manager of the China Tourism Group Duty Free Corporation Ltd., said the duty-free shop at Sanya Phoenix International Airport will be expanded and the duty-free shop in Haikou Meilan International Airport will be improved, with the aim of building Hainan into a globally renowned destination for tourism and consumption.

He also noted that this year the provincial capital Haikou will see the opening of a new international duty-free shopping mall, which will be the largest duty-free shopping complex in the world.

More than 81 million domestic and overseas tourists visited Hainan in 2021, up 25.5 percent year-on-year, while the province's total tourism revenue increased 58.6 percent over the previous year to about 138.4 billion yuan.