CHINA. The Hainan offshore duty-free market generated CNY16.76 billion (US$2.35 billion) in revenue, down -9.2% year-on-year, according to just-released Haikou Customs data.
Commenting on the result, officials described the year-on-year deficit as “a significantly narrowing decline”. As reported, offshore duty-free sales fell -29.3% year-on-year in 2024 to CNY30.94 billion (US$4.23 billion), having declined -29.9% in the first half of that year.
The number of shoppers in H1 2025 fell sharply, down -26.2% year-on-year to 2.48 million but the average per shopper spend surged +23% to approximately CNY6,754 (US$947), highlighting the continued growth of high-value consumption, the authorities said.
The island province’s wider tourism ecosystem performed strongly. In the first half of 2025, Hainan received 55.21 million visitors, up +8.1% year-on-year.
Notably, the number of inbound overnight visitors reached 652,900, up a whopping +31.7%.
Total tourist spending reached CNY118.927 billion (US$16.7 billion), an increase of +8.4% year-on-year, underlining how many visitors have reprioritised other forms of travel spending over shopping.
Although passenger throughput at Hainan’s seaports and airports declined slightly (-1.4%) to 35.2 million in the first half of 2025, Sanya Phoenix International Airport posted an +8.49% increase to 11.81 million passengers. Haikou Meilan International Airport in the north of the island served 13.91 million passengers, down -4.05% year-on-year.
Driven by policy, the Hainan Provincial Government is actively promoting the in-depth integration of ‘duty-free + cultural tourism’ initiatives, improving service quality, optimising product mix, and strengthening digital marketing.
In April, it released the ‘Hainan Province Three-Year Action Plan to Boost and Expand Consumption’, a far-reaching programme embracing 35 measures to optimise offshore duty-free policies and expand the range and volumes of ‘buy now, pick up now’ products.
Duty-free shops are simultaneously carrying out differentiated promotions, adding government consumption coupons and triple benefits classed as ‘duty-free + exclusive + new purchase subsidies’ to continuously enhance market momentum, the report said. 🏝️
