Worlds largest duty-free shop opens in Chinas Sanya Haitang Bay International Shopping Center, the worlds largest duty-free shop located in Chinas Hainan province, opened its doors on Monday. The 72,000-square-meter shopping mall, backed by a 5-billion-yuan ($814 million) investment by the China International Travel Service Group Corp, carries nearly 300 international brands and fashion labels such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Lancome. For the first time in China, more than 10 high-end brands will open duty-free shops on the mainland, including Rolex, Prada and Giorgio Armani. Wang Weimin, president of the China International Travel Service Group Corp, said the shopping mall will become a new island landmark. The Sanya Haitang Bay International Shopping Center is the worlds largest DFS, with the biggest brands and the most complete items, said Wang. Besides shopping, customers can also enjoy entertainment venues, restaurants and hotels at the mall. He Xiqing, deputy governor of Hainan province, said offshore duty-free policies have contributed greatly in promoting the province as a tourism destination. By July 2014, the DFS income in (the Hainan cities of) Sanya and Haikou exceeded 9 billion yuan, with the number of customers surpassing 10 million, said He. In April 2011, the State Council, Chinas Cabinet, permitted a duty-free shopping program in Hainan on a trial basis to attract more tourists. In 2012, tourism revenues in Hainan reached nearly 38 billion yuan, up 17 percent year-on-year. In 2013, more than 36 million customers visited Hainan and made more than 3.4 billion yuan ($538 million) in purchases of duty-free goods.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 19:16:05 +0000