The Sanya International Duty Free City, located in Haitang Bay, Sanya, Hainan, is bustling with people, with long queues of customers waiting to check out at the checkout counter. Anton, a tourist from Belarus, bought a favorite mobile phone. The price of this phone is much cheaper than in Belarus! ”Anton said that this is his second vacation with his family in Hainan, and 'the winter here is very warm'. On January 10th, customers were shopping at Sanya International Duty Free City in Hainan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Cheng: In the winter season, Hainan has entered the peak tourist season. For many tourists, tax-free shopping has become an indispensable part of their itinerary. Since December 18, 2025, when Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched the island wide customs operation, duty-free shopping on Hainan's outlying islands has been particularly popular, highlighting the strong vitality and enormous potential of Hainan in building an international tourism consumption center. According to statistics from Haikou Customs, from December 18, 2025 to January 17, 2026, Haikou Customs supervised a total of 4.86 billion yuan in duty-free shopping on outlying islands, a year-on-year increase of 46.8%; The number of shoppers was 745000, a year-on-year increase of 30.2%; The number of purchases was 3.494 million, a year-on-year increase of 14.6%. The popularity of tax-free consumption is not only due to the super high popularity brought by the island wide lockdown, but also benefited from the concentrated release of policy dividends. In order to promote a higher level of opening up to the outside world and better meet the diversified shopping needs of tourists, starting from November 1, 2025, Hainan's offshore duty-free policy will undergo a new round of adjustments. The categories of duty-free goods will be increased from 45 to 47, and the beneficiaries will be further expanded, allowing departing tourists to enjoy the offshore duty-free shopping policy, directly driving an increase in the proportion of international tourists who shop duty-free. This is a drone photo taken on January 10th of Sanya International Duty Free City in Hainan. This shopping center is amazing! There are many things I want to buy, and the prices are also cheap. ”Tourist Alice from Russia said that Sanya International Duty Free City has many international brands, making shopping very convenient. The new tax exemption policy has significantly lowered the purchasing threshold for residents on the island, further unleashing local consumption potential. According to the policy, residents on the island can purchase 15 types of "buy and pick up" goods unlimited times throughout the year as long as they have one record of leaving the island within a natural year, which effectively stimulates the shopping enthusiasm of local residents. At the duty-free shop in Haikou Riyue Square, Haikou citizen Pan Meishi is selecting products in the cosmetics area. She told reporters that she just left the island once last week, so she can come to the duty-free shop for shopping anytime during the year. Previously, local residents only had the opportunity to purchase duty-free goods when they left the island. Now shopping is more convenient, and going to duty-free shops is like going to a regular mall, "she said. Liu Kun, Deputy General Manager of China Tourism Group Co., Ltd., stated that duty-free shopping, as one of the "golden signs" of Hainan, is the core pillar of the construction of an international tourism consumption center, playing an irreplaceable role in gathering global consumption resources, attracting international customer groups, and enhancing consumption levels. This is the Hainan Sanya International Duty Free City captured on January 10th. According to the latest data from the Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports Department of Hainan Province, photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Guo Cheng, Hainan will receive 106 million tourists in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, with a total tourist expenditure of 225.432 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.5%. Among them, over 1.5 million inbound overnight tourists were received, a year-on-year increase of 35.2%. This impressive set of data not only confirms the strong vitality of Hainan's tourism market, but also shows that its attractiveness as an international tourist destination is continuously increasing. The previously released "Implementation Plan for Building an International Tourism Consumption Center in Hainan Province" proposes to build Hainan into a globally influential tourism consumption destination by 2035. The person in charge of Sanya International Duty Free City stated that after the implementation of the new tax exemption policy, especially since the closure of Hainan Free Trade Port, the daily sales of stores have steadily increased, and the passenger flow has been steadily rising. Next, Duty Free City will continue to use "Duty Free+" as a pivot, and through continuous product innovation, scene reconstruction, and service upgrades, the popularity of duty-free consumption will continue to continue, making the attractiveness of offshore duty-free increasingly strong. (New Society)