![Customers visit Global Premium Duty Free Plaza in Haikou, Hainan Province, Jan. 31, 2021 [Xinhua-Guo Cheng]](https://i0.wp.com/usachinatrading.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Customers-visit-Global-Premium-Duty-Free-Plaza-in-Haikou-Hainan-Province-Jan.-31-2021.jpg?resize=525%2C475&ssl=1)
Two new offshore duty-free shops opened on Sunday in Haikou, capital of south China’s island province of Hainan, raising the number of duty-free shops in the province to nine. The nine shops, run by five entities, bring a pattern of differentiated competition to the duty-free market, which will be a great boost to the building of Hainan into an international tourism and consumption destination.
The Global Premium Duty Free Plaza, run by a local company, is located in a large shopping center in downtown Haikou. The products on sale include electronic products, perfumes, cosmetics, sunglasses and imported wine, among others. The plaza launched its first phase on Sunday, with its second and third phases due by the end of June and September this year, respectively. The other duty-free shop, run by a company based in the southern city of Shenzhen, offers nearly 500 international brands in a shopping area of 20,000 square meters. Yang Jun, vice general manager of Hainan Development Holdings Co., Ltd., which runs the Global Premium Duty Free Plaza, said Hainan’s offshore duty-free shopping has entered a new era of development with a growing number of shops.
“We will join hands with other shop operators to expand Hainan’s offshore duty-free market, attract more Chinese to spend in Hainan rather than in the overseas markets, and promote the consumption upgrading of the Hainan free trade port,” Yang said. Among the nine duty-free shops, three opened in the tropical resort city of Sanya on Dec. 30, 2020, one in Sanya Phoenix International Airport and the other two in downtown Sanya, adding to the previous one at Haitang Bay. For Zhu Mengxia, the two newly-opened shops in downtown Sanya are better located and more convenient. “We now have more choices and better opportunities to hunt for bargains,” she said. Wang Jiansheng, chairman of the Hainan Tourism Development Research Association, said, “competition impels duty-free companies to enrich products and improve services. Their competitive advantages will help build Hainan into a globally influential tourism and consumption destination, and further attract back home more overseas spending by Chinese consumers.”
The China Duty Free Group (CDF), which used to dominate Hainan’s duty-free shopping market, has taken steps to face the competition.
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