Customers select watches at Haitang Bay duty-free shopping center in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Jan. 31, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua/Guo Cheng)
The popular holiday island of Hainan in southern China sold 321,300 offshore duty-free items, worth 340 million yuan (52.1 million U.S. dollars), during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, according to customs sources.
Haikou customs on Wednesday said they saw 8.36 percent year on year sales increase. Per capita expenses on duty-free goods hit 4,978 yuan, rising 20.85 percent compared to the same period last year.
Hainan relaxed its limits on offshore duty-free shopping on Feb. 1, 2016. The new policy allows non-locals to buy duty-free products worth up to 16,000 yuan (2,442 U.S. dollars) before they fly out off the island, without any restriction on the number of items.
Before the policy took effect, non-locals were allowed to buy duty-free items in Hainan twice a year, each purchase was limited to 8,000 yuan.
Customs said that the policy was good for offshore duty-free shopping during the holiday period.
