Offshore duty-free shops in south China's island province of Hainan generated 510 million yuan (about 70.14 million U.S. dollars) in sales during the five-day Labor Day holiday, local customs said Tuesday.
Hainan's offshore duty-free shops received some 79,100 customers during this period, Haikou Customs confirmed.
The Hainan government has launched promotional campaigns to attract more customers, featuring competitive duty-free prices and shopping mall coupons.
Sanya City, the province's another major duty-free city, has introduced discounts, such as coupon offers, reward points, and complimentary gifts.
The local government has also made it easier for customers to reach and depart from the island, offering services covering airplanes, ships, and trains.
To further improve the shopping experience, Hainan has introduced four additional pickup options, including mail delivery, guaranteed pickup and immediate pickup, beyond the original airport model.
China released a master plan in June 2020 to build Hainan into a globally influential and high-level free-trade port by the middle of the century. In recent years, the island province has become an attractive shopping destination for domestic consumers.
Hainan's duty-free sales exceed 70 mln USD during Labor Day holiday
Ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza and the West Bank have led to multiple deaths, arrests, and rising tensions, as both sides report violence and economic fallout.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement on Monday, saying that during operations in the southern Gaza Strip that day, IDF troops killed three "militants" who had crossed the "yellow line" of the military ceasefire. The statement added that IDF forces would remain deployed in the area and would continue operations to eliminate threats.
On the same day, the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior in the Gaza Strip issued a statement saying that Mahmoud Al-Astal, head of the police investigation department in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, was shot and killed. According to sources, Al-Astal was a key member of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). A Palestinian armed group in Gaza, backed by Israel, claimed responsibility for the shooting on Monday.
According to a report by the official Palestinian news agency on Monday, Israeli forces continued their raids across several areas of the West Bank and around Jerusalem, arresting more than 20 Palestinian residents and injuring one person. In some areas, the Israeli forces also conducted house searches, imposed roadblocks, and leveled farmland. Meanwhile, large numbers of Israeli Jewish settlers, under the protection of the Israeli military, entered Palestinian farmlands to graze livestock, damage olive trees, and assault Palestinian shepherds while attempting to seize animals, leading to clashes with local residents.
The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture released a comprehensive report on Monday, saying that in 2025, the agricultural sector in the West Bank suffered systematic attacks by Israeli forces and Israeli Jewish settlers, resulting in direct economic losses exceeding 103 million U.S. dollars, an intensity rarely seen in recent years.
Tensions escalate as IDF operations continue in Gaza, West Bank
