China's Hainan Free Trade Port has seen robust import growth while offshore duty-free sales remain strong, buoyed by a comprehensive set of tax and trade measures rolled out after the island province's special customs operations took effect in late 2025.
On December 18, 2025, Hainan launched its island-wide special customs operations, leading to a sharp rise in its level of zero-tariff treatment. The number of tariff lines eligible for zero tariffs has been expanded from about 1,900 to around 6,600, lifting the overall zero-tariff ratio from 21 to 74 percent.
At a bonded warehouse in Haikou Integrated Free Trade Zone, shelves are fully stocked, and staff are busy sorting and dispatching goods. In the first seven months of this year, Hainan's offshore duty-free sales stayed strong, reaching 21.6 billion yuan (about 3.2 billion U.S. dollars), up 17.9 percent year on year. The rising demand for duty-free goods has directly driven up inventory stocking and import turnover at the warehouse.
"Compared with the same period last year, our imports have increased by roughly 7 percent. We have placed more purchase orders, and sales volumes have also risen accordingly," said Deng Haiwen, customs manager at Global Consumer Boutique (Hainan) Trading Company.
As Hainan's imports and exports continue to grow, the province's cargo flight routes have also been expanding. Since the start of this year, Yangpu Port has added three new foreign-trade routes, bringing its total to 38.
"Southeast Asian fruits, in particular, are now entering the domestic market via the Yangpu Port. A growing number of companies are leveraging Yangpu's shipping network to distribute goods from Southeast Asia to markets across China and beyond," said Zhang Yongjun, deputy director of Yangpu Economic Development Zone Administrative Committee.
Data released by Haikou Customs and other authorities show that from the December 18, 2025 through July 31, 2026, the island imported over 3.6 billion yuan worth of zero-tariff goods, up 40.14 percent year on year, with tariff exemptions reaching 598 million yuan, an increase of 12.8 percent.
Haikou Customs has continued to push for institutional innovation and improved customs clearance efficiency. At the "first line" of entry, eligible zero-tariff and bonded goods are cleared under a streamlined release procedure, with customs declaration items reduced from 105 to 33, cutting average clearance time for imported goods by 20 percent.
"Hainan's foreign trade achievements are mainly the results of major policy incentives such as 'zero tariffs' and 'low tax rates' moving from paper to practice. They also reflect the further improvement of infrastructure and regulatory environments, from cross-border EF accounts and open aviation rights to streamlined administrative approvals. This marks Hainan's steady progress toward becoming a new global trade hub defined by institutional opening-up," Chen Xiaoping, president of Hainan Provincial Association for Foreign Economic and Trade Development Promotion.
Hainan Free Trade Port posts strong import growth as duty-free sales boom
