Queues form outside cosmetics counters, display cases sit empty where gold bangles once were and shoppers jostle to buy discounted iPhones — scenes that greeted reporters across Hainan in the first month after the island’s new "sealed‑port" customs regime began on 18 December 2025. The surge is both palpable on the ground and visible in the numbers: Haikou Customs recorded RMB 4.86 billion in island duty‑free sales in the first month, up 46.8% year‑on‑year, with 745,000 shopper visits (+30.2%) and 3.494 million items sold (+14.6%).
Hotel and flight bookings have followed the retail rush. Platform data show overall hotel reservations to Hainan jumped more than 40% month‑on‑month in the first post‑seal month, with high‑end properties up over 50%, while air ticket searches climbed about 35%. The top origins for travellers were major Chinese cities including Shenzhen, Chongqing, Chengdu and Beijing, underscoring the domestic breadth of the demand spike.
The impetus is policy‑driven as much as seasonal. The sealed‑port operation expanded the zero‑tariff list to roughly 6,600 tariff lines — about 74% of all goods, a 53 percentage‑point increase from before the change — and governments and retailers layered consumer vouchers and aggressive discounts on top. Brands and retailers are marketing prices that the industry says are 15–30% below typical European and US levels, and many items are available for immediate takeaway, a convenience that has weakened the historical advantage of other regional duty‑free hubs.
Product preferences are clear: cosmetics, electronics and gold jewellery top shoppers’ lists. Reporters observed long queues at counters for Estee Lauder and other prestige beauty brands, while electronics stands reported iPhone discounts ranging roughly RMB 500–1,000 per model after stacked incentives. Gold jewellery has been an unexpected superstar: duty‑free gold prices are running around RMB 1,250 per gram versus local taxed equivalents near RMB 1,430, and retailers say a 40‑gram plain bangle can save a shopper RMB 13,000–14,000 after combined discounts and vouchers.
The reopening has also diversified Hainan’s tourist mix. A visa‑exemption agreement with Russia that took effect on 1 December helped draw tens of thousands of Russian visitors to Sanya in December alone, prompting restaurants and hotels in resort zones to adopt Russian signage and even hire Russian‑language performers and translators. Retailers report noticeable shares of foreign shoppers in duty‑free outlets, adding an international dimension to what might otherwise be a domestic spending splurge.
Authorities have sought to keep the surge orderly. Customs officials credit a smart regulatory platform and a "centralised+automated" review system that allows near‑real‑time declarations and releases of goods, reducing logistics and processing time for merchants. At the same time, customs and local regulators have warned about fraud and illicit resale schemes — from organised student buying to tours targeted at elderly shoppers to exploit allowances — and said they will tighten enforcement where needed.
Supply chains are under pressure. Several gold‑jewellery lines — notably certain bracelets and rings — were reported sold out in multiple stores, with staff promising restocks within a week to ten days. Retailers and brands face a balancing act between meeting an immediate demand spike and avoiding long‑term stock imbalances that could necessitate price or policy adjustments.
For Beijing the Hainan experiment is about more than a holiday shopping spree. It is a live test of how far liberalised customs, tourism opening and targeted incentives can lift domestic consumption while managing leakage, enforcement and the competitive dynamics of global duty‑free retail. If the current momentum holds, Hainan could become a template for using trade and travel liberalisation as a consumption stimulus, but the experiment carries risks that may prompt regulatory fine‑tuning.
The first month of sealed‑port operation has delivered a clear message: policy design — from tariff lines to visa rules and local vouchers — can quickly alter tourist flows and spending. The authorities’ near‑term task is to sustain the benefits while guarding against arbitrage, fraud and supply bottlenecks that could blunt the gains or force abrupt policy shifts.