China Nearly Doubles Duty-Free Spending Limit for Hainan Tourists
Dou Shicong
DATE:  Nov 29 2018
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China Nearly Doubles Duty-Free Spending Limit for Hainan Tourists China Nearly Doubles Duty-Free Spending Limit for Hainan Tourists

(Yicai Global) Nov. 29 -- China has raised the duty-free spending limit for visitors to the southern island province of Hainan to CNY30,000 (USD4,300) from CNY16, 000.

The adjustment is part of efforts to make the tourism-focused province more open and convenient for travelers, the country's finance ministry said in a statement.

The government will also add some household medical items to the list of off-island duty-free commodities, including hearing-aids and household respiratory support equipment, effective from the start of next month. . The adjustment and the corresponding measures will be valid from Dec. 1 this year.

Hainan's off-island duty-free stores posted combined revenues of nearly CNY8 billion (USD1.2 billion) last year, while that of the province's main tourist destination Sanya grew 23 percent to CNY6 billion, according to a representative from the local government. He suggested building more duty-free stores all over the island.

China's government began trialing off-island duty-free shopping in Hainan in April 2011, initially setting a spending limit of CNY5,000. This figure has already been raised three times. 

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Keywords:   Hainan,Tax-Free Shopping