HAIKOU, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- Offshore duty-free shops on China's island province of Hainan raked in 12.89 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in sales over the past year, up about 34 percent year on year, local customs said Thursday.
From Dec. 1, 2018 to the end of November, Hainan's duty-free shops received 3.29 million customers and sold 17.46 million items, up 20.1 percent and 31.87 percent, respectively.
Starting from December 2018, the duty-free shopping quota in Hainan was raised to 30,000 yuan per year from the previous 16,000 yuan, without limits on the number of purchases.
Cosmetics, bags and suitcases, and watches are the most popular products. Their sales accounted for 74.2 percent of the total.
The State Council gave Hainan permission to run a pilot offshore duty-free program in April 2011 in an effort to make the island a world-class tourist destination by 2020.
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