Chinese authorities create 41 new arrivals duty-free store opportunities; bidding open only to Chinese companies

CHINA. In an ambitious move to help drive consumption and maintain spending within China, 41 new arrivals duty-free shops are to be established across the country.

The initiative was revealed in a joint announcement today (21 January) on state media channels and the Ministry of Finance of the People.s Republic of China website.

Signatories include the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs and the State Taxation Administration issued a notice allowing the stores to be built and the number of arrivals duty-free shops (already well-established in China) to be increased.

The store network will include Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. The notice also adjusts and optimises some arrivals shops whose operating contracts are about to expire or have already expired, or whose port passenger transport functions have changed.

Arrivals shops are permitted in the restricted areas of airports, seaports and land border crossing.

“The establishment and adjustment of these port-of-entry duty-free shops aims to further facilitate duty-free shopping for inbound passengers, fully leverage the role of duty-free shops in supporting and boosting consumption, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the duty-free retail business,” the announcement said.

The stores will be built in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin Province, Heilongjiang Province, Shanghai Municipality, Jiangsu Province, Ningbo City, Fujian Province, Xiamen City, Shandong Province, Qingdao City, Henan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Guangdong Province, Shenzhen City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hainan Province, Sichuan Province and Guizhou Province.

Key details include:

1. One new duty-free shop will be established at each of 41 ports of entry, including Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. Among them, after the establishment of the Hengqin Port duty-free store, resident passengers entering from Macau will be allowed to purchase a certain quantity (up to RMB15,000/US$2,155) of duty-free goods at Hengqin Port.
2. Duty-free shops for inbound travellers will continue to be established at 11 ports of entry, including Haikou Meilan International Airport and Shekou Cruise Center.
3. The establishment of arrivals duty-free shops at Qingdao Liuting International Airport, Guangzhou East Railway Station and Jiangmen Port will be discontinued. The establishment of a duty-free shop for inbound travellers at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport will cease after the passenger routes are transferred to Xiamen Xiang’an International Airport.
4. Relevant departments of the provincial (autonomous region, municipality, or city with independent planning status) people’s governments where the arrivals duty-free shops are located should guide the tendering parties or port owners to implement tendering and other related matters in accordance with the relevant official provisions.
5. Companies eligible to participate in the bidding are those with duty-free goods operation qualifications approved by the State Council, including China Duty Free Group Co; Shenzhen State-owned Duty Free Goods Group (Shenzhen Duty Free); Zhuhai Duty Free Enterprise Group Co; China Service Center for Chinese Personnel Working Abroad Co (CNSC); China CTS Asset Management Corporation (a sister company to China Duty Free Group; and Wangfujing Group Co.
6. The provincial (autonomous region, municipality, or city with independent planning status) people’s governments where the arrivals duty-free shops are located should earnestly assume their primary responsibility, strengthen overall coordination, improve the comprehensive management mechanism of their respective regions, prevent the illegal resale of duty-free goods and other behaviours that disrupt market order, and coordinate anti-smuggling comprehensive governance work to effectively control the risk of duty-free goods smuggling. ✈