# duty-free
Latest news and articles about duty-free
Total: 3 articles found
Chinese Tourist Exodus Deepens: January Visits to Japan Plunge 60.7%, Hitting Retail and Hotels
January arrivals from mainland China to Japan fell 60.7% year‑on‑year, deepening a decline that began in December and contributing to Japan’s first monthly drop in foreign visitors in four years. The slump has hit hotels and duty‑free retail, with media and private data linking the fall to controversial comments by Japanese politician Sanae Takaichi and resulting cancellations during the Lunar New Year.
Hainan’s One-Month Boom: How China’s Sealed-Border Free-Trade Port Has Unleashed a Shopping and Investment Rush
One month after China sealed Hainan as a full free-trade port, duty-free retail, tourism and new business registrations have surged. Cheaper imports, expanded visa-free access and relaxed tariff rules have turned the island into a magnet for shoppers and firms, but the rapid boom poses sustainability and distributional questions.
Hainan’s Duty‑Free Boom: Tourists Flood In, iPhones and Gold Fly Off Shelves in First Month of 'Sealed‑Port' Experiment
In the first month after Hainan implemented an island‑wide sealed‑port customs regime, duty‑free retail and tourism surged: RMB 4.86 billion in sales, sharp rises in hotel and flight bookings, and shortages in popular items such as gold jewellery and iPhones. Policy changes — expanded zero‑tariff lists, visa easing for Russian tourists, and consumer vouchers — have driven a rapid reorientation of demand, while customs digitalisation eased throughput and regulators warned of resale and fraud risks.