Hainan duty-free sales jump 248% to $153m during May Day holiday

As China's consumption and tourism markets rebound from the pandemic, duty-free sales in southern China's Hainan province also witnessed strong recovery during the May Day holiday, with sales up 248 percent yearly to 993 million yuan ($153.3 million), according to latest data released by Haikou Customs on Thursday, chinanews.com reported.

Around 121,000 people purchased 1.35 million pieces of goods during the five-day holiday, an increase of 141 percent and 229 percent, respectively, compared with the same period of last year, the customs said.

Duty-free shopping quotas in the tourism island were lifted from the previous 30,000 yuan per person per year to 100,000 yuan starting from July 1, 2020. New pick-up methods such as mail delivery starting from February this year also attracted more customers to the island.

As the first China International Consumer Products Expo is lifting its curtain today, Hainan has prepared well for another wave of duty-free shopping rush, said the customs.