![Tourists shop at the Sanya international duty-free shopping complex, Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, on October 2, 2020 [VCG]](https://i0.wp.com/usachinatrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Tourists-shop-at-the-Sanya-international-duty-free-shopping-complex-Sanya-south-Chinas-Hainan-Province-on-October-2-2020-VCG.jpeg?resize=525%2C295&ssl=1)
Strong containment of the COVID-19 outbreak in China is also helping the country step up its recovery efforts, especially in the space of luxury goods.
The Chinese market makes up a large share of the global luxury goods market. According to McKinsey’s China Luxury Report 2019, Chinese consumers at home and abroad spent 770 billion yuan ($115 billion) on luxury items in 2018 – almost a third of the global spend. One of the major reasons why Chinese choose to buy luxury goods abroad is that China’s import tax system and brand pricing strategy means luxury goods are priced higher domestically than abroad. Currently, China taxes imported consumer goods such as garments and beauty products an average of 6.9 percent and high-end cosmetics by 15 percent. But tariffs for many luxury products such as perfumes and watches exceed 30 percent.
However, at the Sunrise Duty Free’s online shopping mall, which was launched in February by the major airport duty-free shop operator in China, members can buy a tub of Estee Lauder eye cream, normally priced at 520 yuan in stores, for less than 300 yuan in its official Taobao shop.
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