The Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP), after six months of island-wide special customs operations, has seen its offshore duty-free policy continue to expand and improve, with the zero-tariff policy dividends transforming shopping from overseas group-buying to easy, on-site purchasing.
Consumers today no longer need to rush to sweep up goods and leave immediately, as major duty-free malls in Hainan now offer immersive and diversified new experiences, transforming consumption from simply buying into a combination of shopping and entertainment.
"I come to Hainan at least once a year. This year, I feel the variety of products in duty-free shops has increased significantly, and there are more amusement facilities and richer scenarios," said tourist Li Yunlong.
Just prior to the special customs operations, the offshore duty-free policy completed a comprehensive upgrade: the range of commodities expanded from 45 categories to 47, adding portable musical instruments, pet supplies, and trendy and creative cultural products.
For island residents, a convenient policy was introduced allowing unlimited "buy-and-take" transactions provided they have left the island at least once in a natural calendar year, enabling consumers to more conveniently make one-stop purchases for their families.
"For locals, these duty-free shops have become just like daily shopping malls -- very convenient. If I need something, I'd just come here with my ID card and buy it," said resident Li Wen.
Building on the comprehensive upgrade of the offshore duty-free policy, the zero-tariff policy for residents' daily consumer goods was rolled out following the launch of special customs operations.
In February this year, the first batch of five duty-free grocery stores for residents opened their doors, allowing island residents to purchase daily consumer goods covering 202 tariff lines -- including fruit, toiletries, and milk powder -- at zero-tariff prices.
"We have introduced French personal care series and Australian milk powder, and we are about to introduce fresh durian from Malaysia. Prices will be about 20 percent cheaper than comparable market products," said He Ying'en, deputy manager of the China Duty-Free Daily Consumer Goods Store in Haikou.
According to data from Haikou Customs, from the start of special customs operations on Dec 18, 2025 to June 16 this year, customs supervised offshore duty-free sales totaling 21.1 billion yuan (about 3.12 billion U.S. dollars) which involved 2.871 million shoppers and 16.709 million items, representing year-on-year increases of 19.5 percent, 14.7 percent, and 6.9 percent, respectively.
Domestic commodity sales have performed particularly well. An increasing number of domestic brands are entering duty-free channels to meet the growing demand for Hainan specialties and quality domestic products, making domestic goods a potential new hotspot for offshore duty-free consumption. To enable faster access to desired quality products, Haikou Customs has continuously upgraded services, improved clearance efficiency, and optimized the consumer experience.
"Automatic approval has been realized for low-risk duty-free goods such as those leaving storage for sale or returning to storage, ensuring 'declare-and-release' supervision. This has doubled logistics turnover efficiency and helped enterprises compress duty-free product delivery times to within four hours, allowing the general public to further enjoy the policy dividends of the Free Trade Port," said Xie Dongliang, section chief of the offshore duty-free and express mail management division at the port supervision department of Haikou Customs.
Hainan FTP sees consumption surge after six-month fine-tuned operation
