Hainan FTP becomes hot spot on policy breakthrough

Duty-free purchases, 'Shopping in China' initiative and free trade measures set to transform China's southernmost island province into new global consumption landmark

An employee arranges to load the first batch of offshore goods onto a ship at Sanya Port in Sanya, Hainan province, on Dec 18. LI XUESHI/FOR CHINA DAILY

On the sun-drenched sands of Sanya's Dadonghai Beach, the rhythm of the South China Sea waves mingles with animated conversations in Russian. A couple from Saint Petersburg, wrapped in towels, basks in the 27 C winter warmth."It's minus 10 back home," the husband says with a smile. "Everything here is wonderful."

Meanwhile, more than 200 kilometers north in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, a different line forms — a winding one outside an Apple store at a duty-free shopping complex. Inside, staff members are busy explaining to customers: "The iPhone 17 Pro Max 2TB has a duty-free price of 16,859 yuan ($2,406). With the 1,000 yuan government consumption voucher, it's 15,859 yuan — 2,140 yuan cheaper than the official website."

These are the contrasting yet interconnected scenes across Hainan, after it officially launched landmark island-wide special customs operations on Dec 18.

Duty-free shopping policies, the "Shopping in China" initiative and freer trade management measures are transforming China's southernmost island province into a new global consumption landmark and a strategic hot spot for multinational corporations, creating what analysts call a "Hainan model" in free trade zones.

At the heart of this transformation lies a policy breakthrough.

According to China's Ministry of Finance, the special customs operations have expanded Hainan's zero-tariff product coverage from 21 percent to 74 percent, with tariff-free items jumping from about 1,900 tariff lines to approximately 6,600.

"These measures, combined with streamlined customs clearance procedures, solidify Hainan's competitive edge as a low-cost, high-efficiency trade hub," said Gao Ruifeng, head of Haikou customs. "It becomes a key gateway for global goods entering the Chinese market."

The policy impact has translated into remarkable statistics from day one. According to Haikou customs, on Dec 18, Hainan's offshore duty-free sales skyrocketed to 161 million yuan, involving 24,800 shoppers and 118,000 purchased items. These figures represented staggering year-on-year increases of 61 percent, 53 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.

The epicenter of this commercial explosion was the China Duty Free Group's Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex. Anchored in a deep integration of "duty-free shopping plus culture and tourism", the mall launched a grand promotional campaign for the occasion, including giving away shopping vouchers. It also specially curated an exclusive VIP salon for international visitors, a strategic move designed to transform abstract policy dividends into tangible, experiential benefits and to craft a diversified, immersive new shopping scenario for foreign tourists.

The result was a comprehensive eruption of market vitality. Data revealed that on Dec 18, customer traffic at the complex exceeded 36,000, a surge of over 60 percent year-on-year, while sales revenue soared by an impressive 85 percent. These standout figures served as a potent testament to the vigorous kinetic energy unleashed by Hainan FTP's institutional innovations.

Vika Karenina, a tourist from Russia, who entered visa-free, said:"This trip to Sanya has been wonderful for the sun and beach, and coinciding with the launch of special customs operations, the duty-free shopping was the most surprising part."

Assisted by a professional shopping guide to select perfumes and cosmetics, she said, "The payment options were diverse, no tax refund paperwork was needed, and the shopping process was as smooth as immigration clearance."

A spokesperson from the sales department of the duty-free city said, "To welcome this historic moment of island-wide special customs operations, we began planning and preparing three months in advance, increasing our inventory to create a high-quality shopping experience for domestic and international travelers."

According to statistics from the Sanya Municipal Bureau of Commerce, since the beginning of the year, cumulative duty-free sales in Sanya had surpassed 20 billion yuan by Dec 19.

The market opportunities brought on by the policy have also attracted more international brands to accelerate their expansion in Hainan.

On Dec 17, the international high-end cosmetics brand SUQQU entered the Sanya duty-free market, opening its first store in China's duty-free channel in the city, further enriching the matrix of high-end consumer brands there.

Travel platforms also recorded staggering booking increases. For the upcoming New Year holiday — the first short break after the special customs operations — flights to Sanya saw a 51 percent year-on-year surge in bookings, with Haikou experiencing a 19 percent increase, according to online travel platform Qunar.